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WINDFALLS 


BY   THE   AUTHOR    OF 


"ASPECTS    OF    HUMANITY.' 


[REVISED  EDITION.] 


FORMA    MENTIS    FUGAX. 


tflVERSITl 


PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY   LONGSTRETH, 

740  SANSOM   STREET. 
1889. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 
RICHARD   RANDOLPH, 

in  the  Clerk's  O%e  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern  District  of 

Pennsylvania. 


WINDFALLS. 


"CHARITY  NEVER  FAILETH." 

Man's  wisdom  takes  its  rise  in  fear; 

And  "fear  hath  torment,"  though  in  hearts  sincere. 

GOD'S  wisdom  flows  in  perfect  LOVE, 

And  lifts  the  fallen  soul  all  fear  above. 

Be  ours  to  search  that  flood  of  strength, 
To  trace  its  rise  and  prosecute  its  length, 
And  view  its  breadth,  as  finite  man 
Such  boundless  bliss  may  incompletely  scan. 

See  first  a  righteous  fear  induce 

Faith  in  a  guidance  from  which  sin  broke  loose, — 

Enlightened  faith,  as  taught  by  grief 

Unknown  before  its  act  of  unbelief. 

From  faith  so  warned  to  keep  its  course, 
And  persevering,  grows  a  nobler  force, — 
A  faith  renewed,  with  larger  scope, 
In  which  fear  falls,  and  is  replaced  by  hope. 

So  stayed  by  hope  and  turned  toward  things 

Not  seen,  for  else  hope  were  not  hope,  faith  brings 

The  faithful  soul  into  such  state, 

That  all  its  works  on  LOVE  and  knowledge  wait. 

Then  faith  and  hope,  not  slain  like  fear, 
Are  lost,  in  that  they  can  no  more  appear. 
Through  doubt  and  shame  their  fires  endure ; 
LOVB  is  not  LOVE,  except  its  flame  be  pure. 

So  man,  in  vision  clear,  discerns 
How  all  GOD'S  universe  uninjured  burns, 
As  burned  the  bush  which  MOSES  saw, 
And  yields  his  heart  to  LOVE'S  eternal  law. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

A  SALUTATION 7 

MATHEMATICS  TYPICAL  OF  UNIVERSAL  SCIENCE 9 

NUMBER  AS  AN  OBJECT 30 

CURRENT  ARITHMETIC 34 

THE  HOUSE  OF  BONDAGE 35 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  ROAD 41 

ATONEMENT 46 

THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 47 

THE  PLACE  OF  FICTION.- 52 

ROMANCE 56 

THE  DRIFT  OF  SYNTAX 57 

PROPHECY  AND  INTERPRETATION 61 

UNIVERSAL  SCRIPTURE 65 

THE  MORTALITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE 66 

THE  OFFENCE  OF  THE  CROSS 69 

VANITY  OF  VANITIES 73 

MERIT 74 

THE  SUBORDINATION  OF  LAW 77 

AUTHORITY 79 

ABSTRACTIONS  versus  DELUSIONS 80 

HIDDEN  LIFE 83 

A  PARAPHRASE 86 

A  POSSIBLE  STEP  FORWARD 87 

INCIDENTAL  EDUCATION 91 

KNOWLEDGE 94 

THE  EXPENDITURE  OF  EXPLANATION 95 

CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION 93 

AN  ASPIRATION 108 

1*  5 


WINDFALLS. 


A  SALUTATION. 

Greet  ye  one  another  with  an  holy  kiss." — I  COR.  xvi.  20,  BT& 

GOD  speed  thee,  struggling  neighbor  I 

All  blessings  on  thy  head  ! 
May  we  be  one  in  labor, 

Till  to  temptation  dead ! 

So  shall  we  stand  united  ; 

While  parted,  both  might  fall, 
Although  of  God  invited, 

Who  would  be  all  in  all. 


He  is  before  all  creatures ; 

In  Him  we  all  consist, 
And  glorify  his  features, 

Or  foul  them,  as  we  list 

We  tread  the  world  of  matter 
By  means  of  outward  sense, 

Whose  visions  often  flatter, 
While  veiling  violence. 

But  as  we  win  the  graces 
Which  wait  upon  his  will, 

We  read  in  fellow-faces 
The  signs  of  good  and  ill. 


A  SALUTATION. 

And  if  we  be  connected 
On  the  internal  ground, 

With  joy  are  we  affected 

When  outward  links  are  found. 


With  honest  purpose  meeting, 
Ah  doubting  we  dismiss ; 

Count  every  word  a  greeting, 
And  every  work  a  kiss. 


MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL    OF 
UNIVERSAL    SCIENCE. 


"  Mathematics  is  only  common  elementary  philosophy,  and  philosophy  is 
only  higher  mathematics." — NOVALIS. 

[A  WORD  OF  CAUTION. — Be  entreated,  gentle  reader !  before  devoting  time 
and  attention  to  an  appreciation  of  the  ensuing  disquisition,  to  pause  and 
reflect  upon  the  difference  between  a  true  assurance  and  a  false.  The  true  ex 
plorer  and  reporter  of  the  realms  of  thought,  relying  wholly  for  fortune  and 
favor  on  the  consciousness  that  the  Truth  is  inherently  larger  and  clearer  as 
well  as  fairer  than  any  demonstration  of  it  which  he  can  hope  to  give,  pre 
tends  not  to  foresee  the  suggestions  which  his  report  shall  awaken  in  any 
minds.  But  while  he  is  thus  secured  from  the  temptation  to  work  for  mere 
sensational  effect,  there  must  always  be  effects  which  he  can  imagine  might 
be  produced  in  any  hearer  or  reader.  He  may  be  a  true  author,  while  a  very 
partial  seer.  The  mere  literary  pretender,  however,  goes  a  step  farther  in 
the  blindness  of  his  faith,  assuming  that  he  may  be  generally  as  well  as  par 
ticularly  unconscious  of  any  virtue  passing  through  him.  As  the  author  of 
NIGHT  THOUGHTS  has  freely  delineated  him  in  one  of  his  epistles  to  the 
author  of  THE  DUNCIAD, 

"  Perhaps  a  title  has  his  fancy  smit ; 
Or  a  quaint  motto,  which  he  thinks  has  wit. 
He  writes,  in  inspiration  puts  his  trust. 
Tho'  wrong  his  thoughts,  the  gods  will  make  them  just. 
Genius  directly  from  the  gods  descends, 
And  who  by  labor  would  distrust  his  friends? 
Thus  having  reasoned  with  consummate  skill, 
In  immortality  he  dips  his  quill ; 
And,  since  blank  paper  is  denied  the  press, 
He  mingles  the  whole  alphabet  by  guess, 
In  various  sets,  which  various  words  compose, 
Of  which  he  hopes  mankind  the  meaning  knows." 

Prudent  reader !  if  thy  time  and  attention  shall  here  be  devoted  in  vain, 
cast  not  all  the  blame  on  him  who  thus  forewarns  thee.  If  unaccustomed 

9 


10  MATHEMATICS    TTPICAL 

or  averse  to  "  thinking  about  thinking,"  examine  first  the  next  presented  and 
shorter  article  on  NUMBER,  which  may  possibly  furnish  a  fit  introduction  to 
this,  probably  a  more  than  sufficient  substitute  for  it.] 

TRUTH,  in  one  of  its  aspects,  may  be  defined  to  be  the 
power  of  coalescence.     The  observation  is  doubtless  as 
old  as  Humanity,  with  distinctness  proportioned  to  the  saga 
city  of  the  observer,  and  must  ever  continue 

The  unity  of  truth.  . 

with  increasing  clearness  to  stimulate  and  to 
reward  the  zeal  of  Nature's  hopeful  explorers,  that  the  bound 
ary  lines  of  her  provinces,  as  they  are  fondly  and  unavoidably 
called,  have  in  Nature  no  actual  existence.  The  distinctions 
of  diverse  Science,  originating  exclusively  although  uncon 
sciously  in  the  realm  of  imagination,  as  ideas  of  more  or  less 
temporary  value,  are  not  natural,  but  artificial.  In  technical 
parlance,  they  exist,  while  they  exist,  not  objectively,  or  in 
fact,  but  subjectively  only,  or  in  our  partial  modes  of  percep 
tion  and  of  thought.  They  are  all  doomed  more  or  less  grad 
ually  to  vanish,  as  the  domain  of  intellect  shall  be  extended. 
Whether  we  will  receive  it  or  whether  we  will  forbear,  there 
is  a  progressive  revelation  of  Nature,  in  which  coalition  and 
co-operation  everywhere  announce  the  omnipresent  Deity. 
All  things  run  together,  although  their  wondrous  fusion  may 
be  duly  realized  only  in  the  full  radiance  of  that  celestial 
Light,  whose  straggling  emanations  even  are  wont  to  dazzle 
our  mortal  gaze  into  temporary  blindness. 

This  doctrine  of  a  pervading  unity  in  Na- 

ike  every other  p"nciPIe  of  truth'  ™«y 

be  said  to  be  an  intuitive  perception  of  the 
healthy  human  soul.  Like  others  it  may  be  overlain  and 
concealed  in  the  very  abundance  of  fragmentary  attainment, 
and  so  become  temporarily  an  unavailable  if  not  superfluous 
element  of  wisdom.  Perhaps  even  more  than  others  has 
this  doctrine  suffered  this  fate  in  latter  ages.  But  such  fate 
cannot  be  final.  The  lost  link  must  from  time  to  time  re 
appear  in  the  inevitable  successions  of  universal  thought. 
The  forgotten  or  neglected  stone  must  still  retain  its  place  in 


OF   UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  tl 

the  eternal  arch  of  truth.  How  many  a  weary  soul  may  be 
even  now  looking  wistfully  back  from  the  distraction  of  the 
"much  learning"  under  which  the  modern  mind  has  been 
staggering  onward,  to  those  clear  morning  hours  of  philosophy, 
to  the  ages  at  once  of  poverty  and  of  promise,  when  the 
pristine  freshness  of  intellect  had  as  yet  in  no  wise  yielded  to 
a  sophisticated  insensibility  ;  but  when  the  Pythagorases  and 
the  Platos  could  stride  freely  over  the  whole  domain  of  know 
ledge,  and  demand,  nothing  doubting,  from  every  fact  of 
every  kind  its  contribution  to  the  universal  scheme  !  A  lame 
induction  had  not  then  led  mankind  into  the  persuasion  that 
there  were  two  sorts  of  truth  in  the  world ;  the  one  of  which 
was  certain,  and  the  other  at  best  but  probable.  Philosophers 
then,  little  dreaming  that  the  truly  provable  (probabzlc) 
could  be  supposed  to  differ  from  the  truly  experimental, 
seem  to  have  been  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to  make 
themselves  extreme  upon  all  points  of  belief,  as  if  conscious 
that  in  such  trustful  daring  lay  the  most  coercive  conservat 
ism, — the  surest  preventive  of  actual  extravagance  in  what 
ever  direction.  Their  faith  in  the  every-day  details  of  know 
ledge  did  not,  upon  the  occurrence  of  apparent  discrepancies 
therein,  extinguish  their  faith  in  the  underlying  principles 
which  maintain  an  ever-increasing  predominance  in  truly 
reflecting  minds,  nor  yet  in  the  ever-unfolding  and  possibly 
unbroken  consistency  of  the  whole  course  of  the  created 
universe.  Intellectual  prosperity  has  now  too  largely  relaxed 
our  intellectual  rigor.  Man,  being  ifc  in  honor,"  "  understand- 
eth  not."  The  very  success  of  those  hardy  ancients  in  their 
introvertive  industry  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  failure,  and 
their  strength  as  little  more  than  weakness.  How  have  we 
been  almost  taught  even  to  "  account  their  lives  madness,  and 
their  end  without  honor !"  Nevertheless,  how  well  might  we 
long  for  an  adequate  share  of  the  same  method  and  coherency 
of  intelligence  which  they  so  triumphantly  derived  from  their 
scanty  materials,  and  without  which  our  mental  wealth  must 
be  an  incumbrance,  and  may  become  a  bane. 


12  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

• 

It  is  universally  acknowledged  that  certainty 

Certainty  to   be  J  J 

despaired  of  in  is  pre-eminently  attainable  in  the  science  of 
no  department  of  Mathematics.  It  may  therefore  be  assumed 
that  if  the  foundations  of  knowledge  are  in  any 
case  accessible  by  all  men,  they  must  be  especially  so  in  the 
principles  of  that  science.  It  is  the  aim  of  this  essay  to  show 
that  there  is  a  universal  thought  which  is  the  object  of  individ 
ual  thinking,  or  that  all  science  is  based  upon  pure  observa 
tion,  with  no  empirical  admixture  of  hypothetical,  or  theoret 
ical  anticipation  of  natural  facts,  on  the  part  of  the  observing 
mind.  If  this  can  be  demonstrated  as  a  primary  theorem  even 
in  Mathematics,  not  only  must  every  vestige  and  avenue  of 
uncertainty  be  excluded  from  that  science,  but  by  virtue  of  the 
applicability  of  the  same  laws  of  perception  and  of  thought 
which  have  there  such  free  and  fruitful  scope,  to  the  develop 
ment  of  other  branches  of  knowledge  which  are  undisputedly 
grounded  upon  the  same  universal  principle  of  direct  observa 
tion  or  rigid  inference,  the  objective  reality  of  all,  in  founda 
tion  and  in  superstructure,  must  be  equally  established.  The 
whole  creation  will  thus  be  intelligibly  presented  to  our  imag 
ination  as  a  continuous  temple  of  truth  and  beauty,  albeit 
more  or  less  vaguely,  while  the  lingering  veil  of  moral  evil 
shall  at  all  obscure  the  perfect  designs  of  the  divine  Creator, 
and  retard  the  full  appreciation  of  the  willing  worshiper. 

Mathematics  a  Taking  Mathematics,  then,  as  a  type  of  Sci- 
type  of  all  know-  cnce  at  large,  let  us  proceed  to  consider  its 
ledge  in  its  Origin  history  under  the  three  heads  expressed  in  the 

Development     and  J 

Tradition.    Theses    three  following  Theses  ;  viz  : 
propounded.  j    That   tne    science  of   Mathematics,   like 

other  provinces  of  knowledge,  originates  exclusively  in  the 
observation  of  certain  objective  qualities  of  things. 

II.  That  its  cultivation  is  conducted  only  by  the  same  in 
tellectual  processes  of  imaginary  analysis  and  imaginary  com 
bination,  otherwise  called  Abstraction  and  Reasoning,  which 
are  adopted  in  other  sciences ;  and  not  by  the  aid  of  any  sys- 


OF   UNIVERSAL    SCIENCE.  13 

tern  or  prelude  of  mere  hypothesis,  apart  from  those  processes 
or  unknown  to  other  sciences. 

III.  That  its  exposition,  or  communication  from  mind  to 
mind,  being  accomplished  by  the  emblematic  embodying  of 
the  ideas  and  subjective  processes  thus  arising  in  appropriate 
objective  symbols,  which  symbols  have  not  the  same  imme 
diate  connection  and  apparent  identity  with  their  subjects, 
which  the  original  objects  had  with  their  proper  images  or 
perceptions  in  the  mind,*  depends  upon  and  proves  (as  does 
the  language  of  all  original  thought)  the  existence,  assumed 
and  admitted  though  not  expressed,  of  a  like  reflective  capa 
city  in  each  of  the  parties,  and  also  of  a  will  on  either  side 
struggling  for  the  union  of  agreement.  In  other  words,  the 
essential  elements  and  methods  of  all  speech  are  involved  in 
even  the  simplest  mathematical  demonstrations. 

In  approaching  the  examination  of  these  For  the  definition 
Theses,  it  becomes  a  preliminary  duty  to  as-  of  Mathematics, 
sume  some  definition  of  the  subject  which  they  concern,  with 
whatever  novelty  of  form  present  perspicuity  may  require. 
Let  us  then  simply  define  Mathematics  to  be  the  science  which 
treats  of  Matter,  as  it  is  known  in  its  universal  properties, 
whether  original  or  derived. 

The  consideration  of  this  definition  of  course 
involves  a  still  preliminary  decision  as  to  what     some  anralfsis  ne~ 

1  •>  cessary  of  the  prop- 

are  the  universal  properties  of  matter  which     erties  of  matter,  or 

are  objects  of  knowledge,  with  some  inquiry     Delations  of mat- 

~        J       ter  to  sense. 

by  the  way  into  the  nature  and  objects  of  sen 
sation  in  general. 

*  It  is  impossible  but  that  any  one  who  does  not  thus  distinguish  between 
the  connection  of  words  with  thoughts  and  that  of  thoughts  with  things,  will 
be  often  disappointed  in  his  attempts  at  conversation  or  demonstration.  The 
more  artificial  and  superficial  connection  between  words  and  thoughts  is  so 
apt  to  supersede  and  render  nugatory  the  more  natural  and  profound  con 
nection  of  thoughts  with  things,  that  there  can  be  no  profitable  communion 
between  parties  neither  of  whose  memory  is  in  this  respect  rectified  by  phil 
osophy,  or  by  the  religious  faith  which  includes  the  power  of  philosophy. 
2 


14  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

In  the  present  state  of  general  science,  it 
cannot  be  presumed  that  all  the  properties 
which  may  be  ascribed  to  matter,  are  strictly 
peculiar  to  it.  Impenetrability,  for  instance,  may  be  sup 
posed  to  be  equally  a  property  of  the  universal  medium, 
sometimes  called  "ether,"  or  more  definitely  passimede,* 
which  interpenetrates  and  connects  the  atoms  and  massive 
aggregations  which  are  properly  known  as  matter.  By  this 
attribute  of  impenetrability,  this  refined  medium  may  per 
haps  more  immediately  affect  the  nobler  organs  of  "  special" 
sense,  those,  namely,  of  sight,  smell,  taste  and  hearing  (of 
this  at  least  as  regards  the  direction  of  sound),  without  that 
intervening  mechanical  impression  which  seems  necessary  to 
the  action  of  the  "  general "  senses  known  as  the  tactile  and 
the  muscular.  But  inasmuch  as  these  baser  senses  may  be 
found  to  suffice  of  themselves  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
attributes  of  matter,  and  the  use  of  those  finer  in  the  appre 
ciation  of  matter  by  these  attributes  or  qualities,  is  merely 
the  result  of  an  education  which  they  receive  by  their  co 
operation  with  the  baser,  it  seems  incumbent  upon  us  to 
confine  our  attention  to  the  senses  of  Touch  and  of  Muscular 
Resistance,  as  the  primary  and  proper  avenues  of  all  mathe 
matical  ideas,  so  far  as  those  ideas  may  be  found  to  be  de 
rived  from  without  us. 

The  inherent    properties  of  matter,  or  ob- 

Proximate  analy-        .  c      ,  t  »»  •  11 

sis  of  the  properties     Jects   of      general      sensation,    may    be    thus 
of  matter,  pure  and     enumerated  : 

(i.)  Impenetrability;  or  distinctness  of  sub 
stance,  by  means  of  which  the  presence  of  one  sort  of  matter 
excludes  that  of  any  other  sort,  or  of  any  other  portion  of  the 
same  sort. 

(2.)  Interrupted  extent;  or  finity  of  substance,  whereby 
matter  is  susceptible  of  every  variety  of  form. 

(3.)  Duration;  or  permanence  of  existence,  which  is  also, 

*  From  passim,  medium.     A  mere  suggestion  by  the  author. 


OF   UNIVERSAL    SCIENCE.  15 

or  at  least  may  be,  interrupted  or  limited,  so  far  as  it  is  an 
object  of  sense. 

(4.)  Inertia;  or  dependence  of  condition,  exhibited  alike 
in  the  phenomenon  of  motion  and  in  that  of  rest. 

(5.)  Impressibility;  or  mutability  of  condition,  exhibited 
under  the  influence  of  chemical  or  other  invisible  power, 
by  the  variations  of  motion  in  all  forms  of  attraction  and 
repulsion. 

Those  chemical  or  physiological  habitudes 
of  matter  which  are  distinct  from  these  me- 
chanical,  such  as  Temperature,  Color,  Taste,  and  so  not  concerned 
etc.,  though  observable,  some  or  all  of  them,  in  Mathematics- 
in  combination  with  all  matter,  appear  not  to  belong  inhe 
rently  to  matter  itself,  but  to  be  plainly  imparted  to  it  by  the 
immaterial  agency  or  agencies  concerned,  which  cannot  as 
yet  be  accurately  designated,  even  by  name.  Again,  the 
universal  qualities  of  matter  just  now  recounted,  are  probably 
not  all  in  themselves  primary  and  elementary.  But  that 
question  is  here  irrelevant,  since  they  have  yet  to  be  com 
bined  among  themselves  to  furnish  the  perceptions  and  ideas 
which  are  the  primary  and  secondary  materials  of  mathe 
matical  science. 

These  combinations,  or  compound  and  still 

,  ..   .  c  ,  ,  •  Composition     of 

universal  qualities  of  matter,  as  known  in  the     mathematical  mate- 
mind,  may  be  thus  announced  :  rials,  present  and 

First;  the  perception  or  idea  of  Space,  re 
sulting  from  (i)  in  combination  with  (2). 

Second;  the  perception  or  idea  of  Multiplicity  or  Number, 
from  simultaneous  repetitions  of  the  same  combination. 

Third;  the  idea  of  Time  from  (i)  and  (3), with  the  aid  of 
memory.  The  idea  of  Number  may  also  thus  arise,  by  the 
same  aid  ;  and  by  this  duality  of  origin,  the  idea  of  Number 
may  become  a  representative  of  both  Space  and  Time  in  con 
junction  with  their  subordinate  attribute  of  quantitative  pro 
portion.  And  it  is  here  worthy  of  note,  that  since  Time  dif 
fers  from  Space  in  being  known  only  through  the  aid  of 


16  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

memory,  its  idea  can  never,  like  that  of  Space,  be  supposed 
to  be  instantaneously  present  in  our  calculations.  Therefore, 
although  we  deal  with  Space,  as  an  idea,  either  immediately 
or  through  the  representation  of  Number,  we  can  only  esti 
mate  and  apply  the  idea  of  Time,  by  the  imaginary  or  repre 
sentative  means. 

Fourth;  the  perception  or  idea  of  Motion  or  Velocity, 
from  (i)  and  (4),  under  the  influence  of  the  unknown  power 
or  powers  which  we  can  only  vaguely  designate  by  the 
terms  vital,  chemical,  cosmical,  etc. 

Fifth;  the  perception  or  idea  of  Force  or  Momentum, 
from  (i)  and  (5),  also  under  the  influence  of  power  acting 
from  beyond  the  sphere  of  natural  perception. 

We    already    find    a    corroboration    of    our 

The  assumed  de-     assumed  definition  of  Mathematics,  in  the  ob- 

ta  y     servation    that    these    last-named    cognitions, 

though  not,  like  that  of  Time,  dependent  in 

any  degree  upon  previous  mental  evidence,  can,  like  it,  only 

enter  into   mathematical   inquiries  by  the   representation  of 

Space  or  Number ;   the  reason  in  both  cases  being  essentially 

the  same,  namely,  that  a  part  of  the   evidence  upon  which 

they  arise  is  simply  foreign  to  matter,  as  matter. 

In  accordance  with  this  enumeration  of  its 

Its    farther    con- 

sideration  merged  proximately  elementary  materials,  we  may 
in  that  of  the  first  now  repeat  in  fuller  form  our  previously 
assumed  definition  of  Mathematics,  as  being 
the  science  which  treats  of  Matter,  as  known  in  its  universal 
and  inherent  but  compound  properties  or  qualities,  Space, 
Number,  and  (so  far  as  its  nature  appears)  Time,  and  in  the 
partly  inherent  and  partly  derived  compound  properties  or 
qualities,  Motion  and  Force.  We  thus  also,  it  must  be  re 
marked,  arrive  at  a  re-statement*  of  the  first  of  our  three 

*  Although  this  Essay  in  its  original  shape  was  written  before  the  appear 
ance  of  DR.  WHEWELL'S  Novum  Organon  Renavatum,  it  is  with  some  mortifi 
cation  that  I  confess  my  ignorance  of  that  work  until  this  had  been  revised  on 
the  eve  of  publication.  With  the  exception  of  the  brief  mention  made  of  In- 


OF  UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  17 

Theses  in  more  explicit  form,  except  inasmuch  as  the  actual 
origin  of  every  science  consists  in  the  application  of  observing 
powers  to  the  observable  things.  Let  us  now  repeat  and  ex 
amine  those  Theses  in  detail. 

I.  "That  the  science  of  Mathematics,  like  other  provinces 
of  knowledge,  originates  exclusively  in  the  observation  of  cer 
tain  objective  qualities  of  things." 

This    first   Thesis    being,    as    just    now  re 
marked,  little  more  than  a  repetition   of  the       Possible    objec- 
assumed  definition  of  the  science,   particular     ^  to  h  "^ 
consideration  of  it  may  now  be  limited  to  an 
examination  of  such  objections  against  the  new  definition,  as 
may  probably  arise  from  a  comparison  with  old  ones.    These 
may  be  considered  under  two  heads  : 

i.  The    subjects   of  Infinity   and   Nihility, 
which  although   out  of  the  reach  of  human        i^  omissions, only 

apparent. 

observation   may  perhaps  by  some    be  inad- 

duction  and  Deduction  in  the  text  on  p.  25, 1  am  constrained  to  throw  into  the 
margin  any  remarks  suggested  by  and  extracts  derived  from  that  lucid  and 
compendious  code  of  progressive  Philosophy.  The  citation  next  following 
may  possibly  assist  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  the  distinction  assumed  in  the 
text  above,  between  the  definition  of  the  province,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
work  of  Mathematics, — between  the  verbal  designation  of  the  field,  and  the 
actual  breaking  of  the  ground  : — "  In  collecting  scientific  truths  by  Induction 
we  often  find  a  Definition  and  a  Proposition  established  at  the  same  time, — in 
troduced  together,  and  mutually  dependent  on  each  other.  The  combination 
of  the  two  constitutes  the  inductive  act,  and  we  may  consider  the  Definition  as 
representing  the  superinduced  Conception,  and  the  Proposition  as  exhibiting 
the  Colligation  of  Facts."  (Bk.  2,  Ch.  5,  §5.) 

Here,  as  well  as  anywhere  may  also  be  cited  some  remarks  which  may  per 
haps  to  some  minds  enforce  the  external  origin  of  our  ideas  of  Number,  Space, 
etc.,  by  showing  that  forgetfulness  of  that  origin  is,  or  would  be,  only  natural ; 
so  that  our  primitive  perceptions  must  be  more  or  less  laboriously  mined  out, 
so  to  speak,  from  present  accumulations  of  knowledge,  however  comparatively 
vast  or  meagre  :  "  In  every  inference  by  Induction,  there  is  a  Conception  super 
induced  upon  the  Facts."  (Bk.  2,  Ch.  5,  §3.)  "  Although  in  every  Induction  a 
new  Conception  is  superinduced  upon  the  Facts,  yet  this  once  effectually  done, 
the  novelty  of  the  Conception  is  overlooked,  and  the  Conception  is  considered 
as  a  part  of  the  Fact."  (Bk.  2,  Ch.  6,  §  3.)  See  also  Bk.  3,  Ch.  4,  §4. 
2*  ]5 


i  MATHEMATICS   TYPICAL 

vertently  supposed  to  lie  within  the  range  of  mathematical 
inquiry,  are  not  necessarily,  and  therefore  not  scientifically  to 
be  so  regarded.  It  is  indeed  often  necessary  to  advert  to 
them  ;  but  they  may  then  be  more  simply  regarded  as  form 
ing  the  unavoidable  boundaries,  than  as  contributing  to  the 
subject  materials  of  the  science. 

2.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that 
J^tS*™***  widely  different  views  have  prevailed  from 
those  now  presented  as  to  the  nature  and 
origin  of  our  ideas  of  Space,  Time,  and  Number;  and  as  it 
is  from  this  previous  prevalence  that  exceptions  to  the  pres 
ent  Thesis  and  definition  are  chiefly  to  be  apprehended,  a 
careful  consideration  of  them  becomes  here  expedient. 

Space,  being  deemed  capable  of  existing  in  the  form  of  sur 
face  without  bulk  or  capacity,  and  in  that  of  linear  extension 
without  either  surface  or  bulk,  and  being  regarded  as  some 
thing  which  in  itself  partakes  of  infinitude,  has  thence  been 
naturally  supposed  to  have  an  existence,  finitely  in  the  human 
intelligence,  infinitely  in  the  divine,  wholly  independent  of 
matter.*  Time,  also,  probably  in  part  from  the  circumstance 
of  its  requiring  an  obvious  mental  effort  for  its  apprehension  ; 
and  partly,  perhaps,  from  its  being  found  the  most  importantf 
of  mundane  resources, — the  uniform  channel  of  every  exter 
nal  influence  which  maintains  or  modifies  the  condition  of 
man, — has  had  a  like  independent  and  purely  intellectual 

*  Probably  the  idea  which  is  most  generally  conveyed  by  the  current  modes 
of  defining  and  treating  of  Space,  is  that  of  a  sort  of  ocean  in  which  material 
things  exist  much  as  fish  are  scattered  through  the  sea.  And  it  may  there 
fore  perhaps  at  first  sight  appear  as  absurd  to  think  of  Space  as  being  a 
quality  of  matter,  as  it  would  be  to  call  the  sea  an  attribute  of  fishes.  Bu-t  it 
must  be  noticed  that  the  analogy  fails  in  an  essential  particular.  The  fish 
displaces  the  sea,  so  that  where  one  is,  the  other  is  not.  Probably  no  sane 
person  will  assert  the  same  of  matter  in  Space. 

t  Possibly  this  peculiar  importance  of  Time  may  be  finally  found  to  result 
from  the  fact  of  its  not  being  universally  a  quality  of  matter  except  under  the 
"  curse"  (Gen.  iii.  17)  which  the  earth  incurred  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of 
Adam  ;  of  which  curse  mutability,  the  universal  measure  of  Time,  may  be  an 
essential  and  representative  feature. 


OF  UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  19 

or  even  spiritual  existence  ascribed  to  it.  Numbers,  we  are 
in  the  habit  of  using  so  freely  in  their  imaginary  or  abstract 
meaning,  sometimes  as  a  gymnastic  labor,  and  sometimes 
as  a  wholesome  relaxation  of  the  mind,  that  it  may  be  still 
less  surprising  that  we  should  lose  sight  of  their  exterior 
origin. 

However  these  misapprehensions  may  have  Mischiefs  of  tra- 
arisen,  it  is  easily  to  be  understood  how,  in  ditional  confusion. 
accordance  with  them,  the  science  of  Mathematics  has  hap 
pened  to  be  defined  in  a  mode  very  different  from  that  here 
suggested,  that  is,  as  being  wholly  subjective  in  its  nature,  or 
originating  solely  in  the  mind.*  That  it  is  accordingly  a  struc 
ture  based  upon  mere  hypothesis,  or  upon  assumed  dogmata 
for  which  no  demonstrable  authority  could  be  adduced  ; — that 
its  sure  working  and  safe  guidance  are  therefore  merely  a 
lucky  coincidence,  and  are  no  example  or  evidence  of  any 
attainable  principle  of  certainty  in  human  affairs — any  pre 
siding  order  or  convincing  unity  of  truth  ; — but  that,  so  far  as 
appears,  all  things  are  under  the  direction  of  a  capricious 
power  of  Fate,  or  mere  law  of  Chance,  which  may  tolerate 
this  inferior  and  partial  uniformity  (to  such  the  solitary  mys 
tery  of  the  universe,  the  eye  of  course,  seeing  in  all  things 
"  only  what  it  brings  with  it  the  power  to  see")  merely  as 
the  tangible  substratum  which  is  requisite  to  uphold  the 
chaotic  riot  of  a  libertine  life  ; — these  are  the  conclusions 
which  the  ingenuity  and  influence  of  the  votaries  of  vice  have 
not  been  slow  to  forge,  and  to  link  as  inferences  to  that  im 
movable  staple  of  primary  consciousness,  which  mathematical 
truth  in  some  way  gives  to  all.  Scholars,  by  confusing  ob 
jective  materials  with  subjective  processes,  have  necessarily 
curtailed  the  true  import  of  the  science  in  its  spiritual  as  well 

*  The  intellect  of  ages  may  be  said  to  speak  in  these  words  of  the  emi 
nent  and  excellent  philosopher  and  historian  of  Science,  already  quoted  : — 
"  The  pure  Mathematical  Sciences  can  hardly  be  called  Inductive  Sciences. 
Their  principles  are  not  obtained  by  Induction  from  Facts,  but  are  necessa 
rily  assumed  in  reasoning  upon  the  subject-matter  which  those  Sciences  in 
volve." — Nov.  Org.  Ren.,  B.  2,  ch.  9. 


20  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

as  in  its  material  aspect ;  and  the  twofold  mutilation  can  only 
be  apologized  for  as  being  in  accordance  with  the  treatment 
received  at  their  hands,  perhaps  inevitably  under  any  hereto 
fore  prevailing  regime  of  metaphysics,*  by  that  coveted  ab 
stract  and  educt  of  all  knowledge,  which  is  termed  the  Sci 
ence  of  Ontology.  For  it  is  surely  observable  that  earnest 
and  consecutive  reasoners  upon  this  comprehensive  theme, 
have  been  almost  uniformly  landed,  according  to  their  taste 
and  previous  training,  either  in  the  extravagance  of  an  empty 
materialism  on  the  one  hand,  or  in  that  of  an  exclusive  spirit 
ualism  on  the  other :  while  those  who  have  advocated  more 
catholic  doctrine  have  as  generally  done  so  by  a  process  rather 
of  compromise  than  of  comprehension,  having  been  either 
secured,  at  the  expense  of  consistency,  by  an  original  and  in 
superable  dread  of  the  glaring  incompleteness  ;  or  else  influ 
enced,  however  indirectly,  by  the  overwhelming  weight  of 
the  practical  perceptions  of  the  as  yet  unlearned  mass  of 
mankind.  So  little,  it  seems,  may  one  science,  or  all  science, 
avail  to  prove  that  which  in  fact  must  be  the  very  beginning 
of  any  science,  or  learning,  or  proving,  namely,  that  there  are 
present  to  the  operation  both  an  animating  soul  and  an  ani 
mated  organism, — each  with  its  congenial  adjuncts. 

\Vaiving,    however,    any    actual    appeal    to 
its  existence  de-     metaphysical   standards    as    a   thing  here  un- 

monstrable   by  ad-  n      i     r*  i    A  •          i  ^     i  •        i 

mined  axioms.  called    for>   let  us  simply  test   by    recognized 

and  rigid  mathematical  law,  these  speculative 
views  of  the  subjective  nature  of  Space  and  Number,  and  of 
Time  so  far  as  it  can  be  represented  by  them  in  mathematical 
investigation. 

Any  number  of  nothings  results  in  Nothing, 

First,  as  to  Num-  c        ,.  c  T    n    •*.  •         '    c.     '  L       c 

k^  as  any  traction  or  infinity  remains  infinite,  for 

the  one  reason  above  intimated,  that  those  sub- 

*  In  the  words  of  a  deservedly  popular  writer,  "  The  establishment  of  a 
philosophy  of  discovery  and  invention  must  await  the  establishment  ot  a 
philosophy  of  the  mind  which  discovers  and  invents." — EDWIN  P.  WHIPPLK 
on  the.  Philosophy  of  BACON. 


OF  UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  21 

jects  not  being  objects  of  perception,  are  unalterable  even  in 
idea,  by  the  means  of  science.  It  is  surely  in  vain  to  say  in 
illustration  of  the  subjective  doctrine  of  Number,  that  "  two 
and  two  make  four,"  and  that  "  the  whole  is  greater  than  the 
part,"  and  to  argue  as  is  usual,  that  these  and  other  such 
phrases  have  an  ideal  or  intelligible  truth  apart  from  any  re 
lation  to  numerable  or  measurable  objects.  For  these  ex 
pressions  then  must  mean,  that  "  two  nothings  and  two  noth 
ings  make  four  nothings,"  and  that  "  the  whole  of  nothing  is 
greater  than  the  part  of  nothing;"  which  are  at  best  but 
random  and  gratuitous  assertions,  since  by  our  acknowledged 
rule  the  two  nothings  and  two  nothings  do  not  make  four 
nothings,  any  more  than  they  make  one,  or  any  other  number 
of  nothings :  neither  is  the  whole  of  nothing  greater  than  the 
part  of  nothing,  but  by  the  same  principle  precisely  equal  to 
it.  The  subjective  origin  of  the  idea  of  Number  thus  exhibits 
itself  as  but  an  imaginary  corner-stone  of  science. 

The  similar  fiction  of  the  "  three  dimen 
sions"  of  Space,  two  at  least  of  which  can  SpSa^°ndly>  as  to 
only  exist  subjectively,  convenient,  necessary, 
and  even  beautiful,  as  it  may  seem  to  be,  may  in  like  manner 
be  regarded  as  unfounded  and  inexpedient.  Space  must 
have  at  least  a  differential*  value  in  two  directions,  con 
joined  with  an  estimable  value  in  the  remaining  one,  to 
make  it  truly  appreciable.  In  this  case  the  appreciable 
dimension  will  be  mere  length,  and  we  will  have  a  substan 
tial  and  measurable  line.  If  it  be  appreciable  in  two  direc 
tions,  we  have  a  surface  or  area  which  is  also  a  tangible 
reality,  and  which  is  estimable  by  the  measured  line.  If  it 
be  appreciable  in  the  third  direction  also,  we  have  again 
genuine  Space,  now  rendered  complete  to  the  sense,  and  also 

*  That  is,  a  value  such  as  may  always  be  imagined,  which  shall  be  defi 
nite  in  itself,  and  yet  too  small  to  be  estimated  in  its  results  except  by  its 
practical  equality  with  other  like  values  on  the  one  hand,  or  by  its  unaltered 
ratio  to  them  when  they  have  been  reduced  to  the  same  degree,  on  the 
other. 


22  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

estimable  by  the  repeated  application  of  the  measured  line, 
We  have  thus  an  evidence  for  the  objective  nature  of  Space, 
supplied  by  the  mode  in  which  alone  it  is  conceivable  for  the 
idea  of  Space  to  have  originated.  Again,  both  surface  and 
bulk  being  estimable  by  arithmetical  multiplication,  and 
even  length  being  always  denotable  by  Number,  we  find  a 
confirmation  of  this  view  in  our  mode  of  computing  Space, 
which  is  identical  with  the  argument  already  supplied  by 
the  consideration  of  Number;  the  contrary  view  being  here 
also  a  violation  of  the  inevitable  law,  that  nothing  produces 
nothing.  Two  triangles  having  their  three  sides  equal,  each 
to  each,  the  lines  and  surfaces  being  defined  in  the  old  mode, 
can  thus  be  equal  to  each  other,  only  as  they  are  also  equal 
to  a  quadrangle  containing  two  figures  so  defined,  or  to  any 
other  such  impossible  polygon  ;  that  is,  by  being  each  equal 
to  nothing. 

In  quitting  this  branch  of  our  subject,  it  may 
"     not  be  superfluous  to   remark,  that  although 


rc. 


tification.  the  views   now  advocated,  must,  as  received, 

occasion  some  slight  modification  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Mathematics,  this  result  cannot  but  be  ultimately  of 
use,  if  it  be  only  in  the  clearing  of  the  gateways  to  the  science 
in  its  different  departments,  and  so  smoothing  the  paths  of 
beginners.  Perhaps  even  minds  familiarized  to  the  prevailing 
inaccurate  modes  of  expression,  may  find  the  temporary  dis 
location  of  ideas  incurred  in  such  a  change  amply  compensated 
by  an  expanding  appreciation  of  the  truth  of  the  homespun 
axiom,  that  "Well  begun  is  half  done,"  and  by  the  whole 
some  assurance,  that  truth  in  general  can  only  be  thoroughly 
appreciated  in  so  far  as  the  end  may  be  seen  in  the  beginning. 

II.  "  That  its  cultivation  is  conducted  only  by  the  same  in 
tellectual  processes  of  imaginary  analysis  and  imaginary  com 
bination,  otherwise  called  Abstraction  and  Reasoning,  which 
are  adopted  in  other  sciences  ;  and  not  by  the  aid  of  any 


OF  UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  23 

system  or  prelude  of  mere    hypothesis,  apart  from  those  pro 
cesses,  or  unknown  to  other  sciences." 

The  consideration  of  the  second  Thesis  has 

T_  •  LI  i-    •        L    J     •        ii  C  Imaginative     in- 

been  m  a  great  degree  anticipated  in  that  of  sight  ^  clue  of  de. 
the  first.  It  has  now  been  argued  that  mere  veiopment. 
hypothesis  does  not  either  primarily  furnish 
the  elementary  facts  of  mathematical  knowledge,  nor  mingle 
permanently  with  the  process  of  their  intellectual  apprehen 
sion  and  combination.  It  remains  to  be  shown  that  the  con 
tinued  development  of  these  facts  and  processes  in  an  ever- 
serviceable  system,  is  also  essentially  free  from  arbitrary 
assumption,  and  adheres  to  the  basis  of  a  true  or  original 
ground  in  nature,  notwithstanding  that  that  ground  may  even 
in  this  comparatively  prosaic  science,  be  somewhat  concealed 
and  forgotten,  in  consequence  of  the  specific  materials  which 
are  the  subjects  of  systematic  development,  being  often  them 
selves  a  mental  development  or  construction  thereupon.  This 
imaginative  mode  of  development,  and  seeming  loss  of  the 
foundation  in  the  continuing  superstructure,  may  perhaps  be 
most  readily  illustrated  by  an  analysis  and  comparison  of  the 
four  primary  operations  of  Arithmetic. 

Two  only  of  these  operations,  Addition  and 

0    ,  1-1  n  •  Examples. 

bubtraction,  can  be  said  actually  to  occur  in 
nature,  and  to  be  truly  imitated  in  our  calculations,  as  any 
simple  idea  in  mind  or  memory  imitates  or  reflects  a  percep 
tion  of  nature.  Multiplication  and  Division  cannot  occur  out 
of  the  mind,  except  as  it  may  be  allowable  so  to  speak  of 
them  as  imaginary  consequences  of  repeated  additions  and 
subtractions.  Addition  having  occurred  by  the  repetition  in 
nature  of  several  equal  or  like  elements,  the  quality  of  Num 
ber  thus  comes  distinctly  and  impressively  into  view  ;  and 
being,  by  the  legitimate  action  of  the  imagination,  abstracted 
from  the  process  of  Addition  as  a  ready  representative  of  the 
productive  agent,  this  quality  of  Number  has  quite  naturally 
received  first  the  imaginary  office,  and  then  the  name,  of 
Multiplier.  The  mathematical  process  of  Multiplication  is 


24  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

the  retracing,*  in  a  reverse  order,  of  the  growth  which  thus 
arises,  as  it  were,  from  external  nature  into  the  mind.  That 
is,  as  in  the  searching  appreciation  of  the  operation  without 
us,  we  rise  from  the  result  therein  observed,  through  an  im 
aginary  multiplication  to  an  imaginary  multiplier ;  so,  when 
we  proceed  to  anticipate  by  calculation  the  result  of  any  like 
operation  probably  or  possibly  to  occur  in  nature,  we  begin 
with  realizing  the  "  abstract"  multiplier  in  the  mind,  pursue 
it  downward  through  its  mental  combination  or  multiplication 
with  the  "  concrete"!  number  concerned,  and  alight,  with  all 
confidence  in  the  result,  upon  the  common  ground  of  concrete 
ideas,  with  an  intelligence  of  natural  truth  as  clear  as  if  we 
were  remembering  facts  as  they  had  formerly  happened,  in 
stead  of  predicting  them  from  an  exploration  of  their  rela 
tions.  The  connection  between  Subtraction  and  Division  is 
of  course  quite  analogous  to  that  between  Addition  and  Mul 
tiplication.  Addition  and  Subtraction  are  therefore  distin 
guished  as  being  simply  ideal  imitations  in  the  mind,  of  what 
may  have  actually  occurred  externally,  the  ideal  numbers  not 
being  severed  from  the  concrete  association  in  which  they  are 
received  into  the  mind  from  without ;  in  Multiplication  and 
Division,  if  they  are  intelligently  performed,  man  adopts  a 
course  of  his  own,  whereby  he  estimates  the  slow  results  of  ma 
terial  changes  without  waiting  to  see  them  or  even  to  suppose 
them  in  detail.  A  true  imaginative  insight,  an  intelligence 
dwelling  in  the  secret  modes  of  his  perceptions  rather  than  in 
the  obvious  matter  of  them,  is  evidently  necessary  in  the  first 
place  to  discover  to  him  the  fact  that  the  abstract  conception 
of  Number,  when  combined  with  the  concrete  in  the  way 

*  "Induction  moves  upward,  and  Deduction,  downward,  on  the  same 
scale."— WHEWELL,  Nw.  Org.  Ren.,  Bk.  2,  ch.  6,  §  18. 

t  The  reader,  if  there  shall  be  one,  who  may  not  at  once  recognize  the 
justness  of  the  distinction  between  the  "abstract"  and  the  "concrete"  ideas 
of  Number,  as  applied  respectively  to  the  multiplier  and  the  multiplicand,  is 
invited  to  an  examination  of  the  old  arithmetical  riddle, — to  take  first  the 
square  of  twenty-five  cents,  and  then  the  square  of  the  quarter  of  a  dollar,  and 
reconcile  the  results,  if  he  can. 


OF   UNIVERSAL    SCIENCE.  25 

of  Multiplication  and  Division,  must  give  the  results,  while 
avoiding  the  labor,  of  repeated  Addition  and  Subtraction:  and 
the  same  insight  remains  as  his  sufficient  authority  for  classi 
fying  these  processes  rather  according  to  their  mental  rank,  as 
indicated  by  their  comparative  complexity  and  analytical  his 
tory,  than  by  a  reference  to  the  associations  under  which  they 
occur  or  originate  in  nature.  Thus,  upon  the  common  prin 
ciples  of  natural  science,  Multiplication  and  Division  become 
recognized  as  allied  species  constituting  a  true  genus,  —  Ad 
dition  and  Subtraction  in  like  manner  forming  a  separate 
genus,  of  mathematical  rules,  derivable  by  processes  of  in 
duction,  and  available  for  purposes  of  deduction.* 

Our    observations    upon    mathematical    sci 
ence    thus   far,    concern    its    development,    as       Sources   of  the 


distinguished  from  its  demonstration,  and  are  ne  °f 


equally  applicable  to  its  four  cardinal  branches 
of  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Algebra,  and  Mechanics.  In  all 
of  these  the  constructive  work  of  imagination,  inseparable 
from  all  development  of  Science,  may  assume  the  appearance 
of  random  hypothesis,  as  the  form  of  hypothesis  may  be  in 
cident  to  the  work  of  exposition.  But  to  make  hypothesis 
therefore  the  foundation  or  the  law  of  any  of  them,  were  evi 
dently  to  confound  the  channel  with  the  stream.  All  science 
consisting  in  the  interpretation  of  nature,  and  all  truth  being 
one,  all  permanent  progress  of  the  so-called  special  sciences 
must  be  the  harmonious  growth  of  component  parts  of  a 
single  whole.  The  fewness,  simpleness  and  universality  of 
the  primary  materials  of  Mathematics,  by  securing  a  facility 
of  culture,  have  induced  an  overshadowing  ideal  develop 
ment,  in  which  their  original  relationship  seems  to  have  been 
entirely  lost  sight  of.  This  remarkable  obscuration  is  wholly 

*  "  In  Induction,  besides  a  mere  collection  of  particulars,  there  is  always  a 
new  conception,  or  principle  of  connection  and  unity  supplied  by  the  mind, 
and  superinduced  upon  the  particulars.  ...  In  deductive  reasonings,  the  gen 
eral  principles  are  assumed,  and  the  question  is  concerning  their  application 
and  combination  in  particular  cases."  —  WHEWELL,  Arm>.  Org.  Ren.,  B.  2,  ch.  6. 
3 


26  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

traceable  to  the  fact,  that  the  foundation  of  the  science  in  the 
sensible  phenomena  of  nature  being  comparatively  base  as 
well  as  broad,  the  development  of  universal  thought,  in  rising 
successively  above  the  level  of  higher  foundations,  contributes 
comparatively  more  from  itself  in  bulk  to  this  meaner,  even 
as  it  derives  to  itself  comparatively  more  in  quality,  from 
those  nobler  sciences.  In  the  eagerness  of  mental  appetite, 
the  influences  of  quantity  and  quality,  of  matter  and  spirit, 
have  remained  in  some  degree  undistinguished,  and  the  pro 
cess  of  discovery  been  confounded  with  that  of  demonstration. 
A  few  general  observations  upon  the  admissibility  and 
necessity  of  hypothetical  assumption  in  the  work  of  demon 
stration  now  only  remain  to  be  adduced  in  confirmation  of 
our  third  Thesis. 

III.  "  That  its  exposition,  or  communication  from  mind  to 
mind,  being  accomplished  by  the  emblematic  embodying  of 
the  ideas  and  subjective  processes  thus  arising,  in  appropriate 
objective  symbols,  which  symbols  have  not  the  same  immedi 
ate  connection  and  apparent  identity  with  their  subjects  which 
the  original  objects  had  with  their  proper  images  or  percep 
tions  in  the  mind,  depends  upon  and  proves  (as  does  the  lan 
guage  of  all  original  thought)  the  existence,  assumed  and  ad 
mitted  though  not  expressed,  of  a  like  reflective  capacity  in 
each  of  the  parties,  and  also  of  a  will  on  either  side  struggling 
for  the  union  of  agreement.  In  other  words,  the  essential 
elements  and  methods  of  all  speech  are  involved  even  in  the 
simplest  mathematical  demonstrations." 

We  must  here  remark  the  fact,  which  per- 

Origin     of     Ian-  .  ... 

guage  in  a  lower,     haps    first    found    definite    expression    in    the 

and  use  in  a  higher,      famOUS    WOl'k  *  of  JOHN    HoRNE    ToOKE,  and 
consciousness.  ,  .    .  .    * 

which  can  never  long  remain  a  mystery  among 
thinking  men,  that  all  the  materials  of  language  have  origin 
ated  in  man's  experience  of  the  external  world,  as  derived 
either  from  surrounding  things  or  from  his  own  physical  nature. 
*  "  EPEA  PTEROENTA  ;  or,  The  Diversions  of  Purley." 


OF  UNIVERSAL   SCIENCE.  27 

And  mankind,  it  may  be  presumed,  are  now  also  prepared  both 
to  acknowledge  and  to  understand  the  complementary  fact, 
(through  want  of  which  the  sagacity  even  of  a  Tooke  was  so 
much  at  fault,)  that  words,  so  derived,  may  be  available  as  a 
medium  or  spiritual  communication,  in  consequence  (and 
only  so)  of  some  appreciable  sameness  or  similarity  between 
those  perceptions  of  sensible  objects  with  which  the  words 
originated,  and  the  larger  thoughts  or  deeper  emotions  which 
the  same  words  are  eventually  used  to  express.  The  fact  first 
named  may  be  seen  to  result  from  the  truth  universally  ob 
served  or  observable,  that  mankind,  whether  or  not  they  may 
ultimately  attain  to  a  method  of  mutual  acquaintance  and  un 
derstanding  apart  from  the  avenues  of  sense,  are  at  least  by 
their  inherited  nature  incapable  of  any  intercourse  except 
through  those  avenues,  and  by  means  which  must  be  adapted 
to  their  restricted  mode  of  transit.  And  in  that  complement 
ary  fact  of  the  natural  availability  of  such  language  for  such 
elevated  service,  the  sameness  or  similarity  of  meaning  in 
spheres  so  diverse  is  equally  accounted  for,  by  that  unity  of  ex 
perience  under  diversity  of  circumstances,  which  distinguishes 
manhood,  upon  the  assumption  (the  general  or  parent  hypoth 
esis,  which  here  becomes  necessary  simply  because  it  is  pos 
sible  and  remains  as  the  only  supposition  which  will  account 
for  the  facts)  that  there  is  a  pre-established  analogy,  or  an 
identity  of  relations,  between  the  material  universe  and  the 
living  body  of  man  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  spiritual  universe 
and  the  human  soul  on  the  other. 

The  equal  reality  of  these  two  spheres  of 

J  All  figurative  lan- 

existence  is  therefore,  in  direct  opposition  to  guage,  therefore,  a 
the  inference  or  intimation  of  the  author  of  fo™  of  hypothesis. 
"  WINGED  WORDS,"  implied  in  the  secret  constitution  of  lan 
guage,  together  with  an  acquired  but  enduring  consciousness 
of  a  certain  identity  in  their  experimental  significance  ; — an 
identity  which  maybe  occasional  and  temporary  in  its  details, 
(owing  to  the  variable  and  transitory  nature  of  our  merely 
physical  impressions,)  but  which  is  sufficient  to  originate  and 


28  MATHEMATICS    TYPICAL 

to  reinforce  indefinitely  a  language  adequate  to  all  social 
purposes.  Hence  it  is  observable  that  words,  while  retaining 
their  primitive  meaning,  and  even  after  losing  it,  if  familiar 
ized  in  any  definite  acceptation,  are  liable  to  be  used  in  two 
several  modes:  in  their  familiar  meaning,  either  primitive  or 
secondary,  they  may  be  employed  to  indicate  the  familiar 
idea  of  a  thing  or  fact,  upon  the  specific  ground  of  a  percep 
tion,  present  or  past,  being  common  to  both  parties  ;  and 
they  may  be  appealed  to  in  order  to  convey  an  analogical 
meaning,  the  origin  of  which  has  now  been  conjecturally  de 
fined,  on  the  before  mentioned  general  ground  of  like  reflect 
ive  capacities  and  co-operating  wills. 

This  distinction,  thus  arrived  at  between  the 

And,  as  such,  of 

but  transitional  or  two  methods  of  language,  the  literal  and  the 
educational  value.  figurative,  or  the  prosaic  and  the  poetic,  not 
only  indicates  and  explains  that  objectively  neutral  or  ambig 
uous  character  of  all  language,  by  which  the  same  utterance 
may  at  some  times  and  to  some  minds  be  poetical,  which  at 
a  subsequent  time  or  to  an  already  familiarized  mind  may  be 
simply  prosaic ;  but  suggests  the  farther  observation  that 
poetry  must  take  the  lead  of  prose  in  all  education, — in  every 
propagation,  whether  earlier  or  later,  of  actual  thought.  In 
such  a  process  mind  must  ever  reach  toward  mind  with 
strictly  hopeful  or  spiritual  purpose  ;  and  the  struggle  becom 
ing  effectual  only  through  the  common  recognition  of  a  com 
mon  nature  and  of  common  aims  which  are  above  the  sphere 
of  sense, — of  a  nature  and  aims  existing  independently  of  the 
mutable  objects  with  which  they  are  conversant,  ever  reveals  a 
seat  of  power  above  the  world  and  not  of  the  world,  a  spirit 
ual  fastness,  from  which  more  mightily  than  from  the  coveted 
stand-point  of  the  Syracusan  sage,  all  men,  singly  and 
jointly,  may  coerce  the  things  of  the  world  into  all  the  need 
ful  service  of  the  soul. 

Ultimate  results         "f hat  in  tlie  general  development  and  appli- 
invoived    in    first     cation  of  language  there  is  no  ground  of  dis- 
tinction  between    Mathematics  and  other  sci- 


OF  UNIVERSAL    SCIENCE.  29 

ences  may  perhaps  sufficiently  appear  from  these  general 
remarks  thereupon,  taken  in  connection  with  our  previous 
inquiry  into  the  development  of  thought  in  it  and  them.  In 
all  there  are  evidently  degrees  of  thought  corresponding  to 
degrees  of  experience,  whereby  the  general  principles  in 
volved  in  particular  facts  are  found  to  be  nothing  less  than 
primary  facts  in  the  order  of  nature,  although  at  the  best  but 
secondarily  appreciated  in  the  course  of  investigation  and  ex 
position.  Like  the  quinia  and  morphia  of  the  chemist,  they 
are  essential  elements  of  a  complete  history  of  nature,  although 
the  process  of  analysis  by  which  they  are  revealed  is  a  mental 
rather  than  a  physical  one.  Their  discovery  being  purely 
reflective  or  ideal,  and  their  expression  for  that  simple  reason 
necessarily  metaphorical,  the  more  readily  they  may  be  thus 
identified,  the  more  rapidly  will  the  figurative  application  of 
terms  acquire  a  literal  force,  and  the  poetry  of  aspiration  be 
followed  by  the  prose  of  attainment.  One  branch  of  know 
ledge  may  thus  be  comparatively  prosaic,  but  the  essential 
history  of  each  alike  typifies  that  of  the  whole  tree.  The  ex 
ploration  of  the  mystical  and  the  annexation  of  the  abstract 
thus  constitute  the  course  of  all  earnest  investigation  ;  and  all 
science  and  all  literature,  so  far  as  they  may  have  escaped,  or 
so  fast  as  they  may  throw  oft',  the  discrepancies  and  contami 
nations  of  misdirected  zeal  and  moral  depravity,  are  thus  ever 
found  to  verify  the  familiar  couplet  of  a  classic  bard, — 

"  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  nature  is,  and  GOD  the  soul/' 

Rejoice,  ye  watchers  !  at  the  approaching  dawn  of  that  eter 
nal  day  of  truth  and  freedom,  in  which  all  speculation  will 
become  science  and  all  science  intuition  ;  and  in  which  man 
kind  will  distinguish  between  prose  and  poetry,  only  by  their 
primary  functions  of  communion  and  praise. 

1858. 
3* 


NUMBER  AS  AN   OBJECT. 


"  AT  any  step  of  Induction,  the  inductive  proposition  is  a  Theory  with  re 
gard  to  the  Facts  which  it  includes,  while  it  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  Fad 
with  respect  to  the  higher  generalizations  in  which  it  is  included.  In  any 
other  sense  the  opposition  of  Fact  and  Theory  is  untenable,  and  leads  to  end 
less  perplexity  and  debate."— DR.  WHEWELL. 

• 

"  Time,  time  only,  can  gradually  wean  us  from  our  Epeolatry,  or  word- 
worship,  by  spiritualizing  our  ideas  of  the  thing  signified.  Man  is  an  idol 
ater  or  symbol- worshiper  by  nature,  .  .  .  but  sooner  or  later  all  his  local 
and  temporary  symbols  must  be  ground  to  powder,  like  the  golden  calf, — 
word-images  as  well  as  metal  or  wooden  ones.  Rough  work, — iconoclasm, — 
but  the  only  way  to  get  at  truth." — DR.  HOLMES. 

/"CONSEQUENT  upon  the  too  natural  confusion  of  things 
\^s  with  thoughts  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  thoughts  with 
words  on  the  other,  is  the  natural  tendency  of  traditional 
philosophy  to  lapse  from  the  firm  ground  of  observation  into 
the  delusive  quicksands  of  speculation.  Except  as  our  human 
nature  is  continually  inspired  by  a  Wisdom  higher  than  its 
own,  to  a  continual  refinement,  both  of  thought  and  of  lan 
guage,  it  is  evident  that  we  must  corrupt  the  universal  system 
of  truth  by  the  infusing  of  individual  peculiarities,  or  mar  it 
by  the  imputing  of  individual  limitations,  in  all  our  efforts  to 
systematize  our  ever  accumulating  stores  of  intellectual  attain 
ment.  The  philosophy  of  ARISTOTLE  may  be  said  to  have  thus 
become  engulfed  in  the  absurdities  of  the  mediaeval  schools ; 
while  the  profounder  system  of  PLATO  has  survived  only  to 
meet  a  like  fate  in  the  extravagances  of  modern  rationalism. 
More  justly  than  those  of  many  professed  followers,  may  the 

30 


NUMBER  AS  AN  OBJECT.  31 

labors  of  BACON,  and  LOCKE,  and  many  other  less  appreciated 
observers  and  inquirers  of  modern  times,  be  regarded  as  sup 
plementary,  and  not  antagonistic,  to  those  of  the  ancient  mon- 
archs  of  mind,  in  recalling  the  attention  of  mankind  from 
tradition  to  experience,  from  criticism  to  investigation,  from 
words  to  things. 

Things  or  objects  are  the  proper  subject  of  all  study  and  of 
all  teaching.  Let  us  however  avoid  the  too  common  error  of 
confusing  an  object,  with  an  aim.  An  object  is  properly 
something  which  is  at  hand  :  an  aim  is  something  which  is 
ever,  in  some  sense,  at  a  distance.  The  aim  of  an  intelligent 
and  spiritual  being  is  nothing  less  than  the  inexhaustible  treas 
ure  of  divine  Truth.  A  demonstrable  object  is  a  part  of  his 
present  wealth  of  knowledge,  although  as  such  also  a  means 
of  future  acquisition.  Objects  are  the  only  proper,  because 
the  only  possible,  subjects  of  investigation  and  demonstration. 
Surely  it  is  an  evidence  that  the  intellect  of  our  age  had  wan 
dered  far  into  the  wilderness  of  self-conceit,  that  the  plan  of 
object-teaching  should  be  announced  to  us  almost  as  a  dis 
covery,  and  welcomed  by  us  as  a  refreshing  novelty.  In  the 
motion  of  the  mind  as  in  that  of  the  body,  the  headlong  attitude 
is  unfavorable  to  safe  progress.  In  both  we  must  plant  our 
feet  firmly  upon  the  earth  of  tangible  realities,  if  we  would 
have  the  free  use  of  all  our  faculties. 

In  speaking  of  objects,  we  of  course  mean  in  the  first  place 
objects  of  sensation,  as  these  must  be  our  first  means  of  com 
munication,  either  with  young  people,  or  with  others  who 
may  not  have  undergone  a  mental  training  similar  to  our  own, 
so  as  to  become  familiar  with  the  intellectual  objects,  or  ideas, 
which  we  may  have  derived  from  these.  Of  these  objects  of 
sensation,  which  may  thus  be  called  primary  objects  in  the 
order  of  experience,  I  now  purpose  to  speak  of  one  which  I 
think  must  sooner  or  later  be  taught  more  simply  and  accu 
rately,  and  therefore  of  course  more  efficiently  than  it  now  is. 
I  mean  the  object  of  Number,  which  we  are  more  accus 
tomed  to  hear  spoken  of  as  a  deduction  or  creation  of  the  in- 


32  NUMBER  AS  AN  OBJECT. 

tellect,  than  as  a  sensible  quality  of  matter.  For  the  sake  of 
perspicuity,  let  us  premise  the  consideration  of  this  subject 
with  a  glance  at  another  more  undisputed  quality  of  matter, 
and  object  of  sensation. 

The  object  of  Color  may  be  taken  as  a  representative 
quality  of  matter,  although,  like  all  the  rest,  it  depends  for  its 
manifestation  upon  the  subtler  and  more  diffused  medium  in 
which  the  principles  of  light,  heat,  attraction,  repulsion,  and 
polarity,  appear  to  meet  and  blend.  Color,  we  know,  may 
either  belong  to  a  mass  or  masses  of  matter  naturally,  or  be 
imparted  by  art.  The  same  is  evidently  true  of  Number ; 
and  although  the  quality  of  Number  may  be  doubtless  im 
parted  or  altered  with  greater  facility  than  that  of  Color,  I 
cannot  think  that  this  is  a  sufficient  plea  for  our  laying  claim 
to  its  idea  as  a  creation  or  original  endowment  of  the  intel 
lect.  Similar  remarks  might  be  made  upon  the  idea  of 
Space,  and  to  some  extent  upon  that  of  Time  ;  but  let  us 
now  proceed  to  consider  how  this  view  of  our  knowledge  of 
Number  may  concern  the  teacher  of  the  science  of  Numbers. 

The  few  remarks  which  I  have  to  offer  on  this  question,  if 
novel,  will  not  I  trust  seem  unpractical,  nor  if  simple, 
trifling,  to  those  who  know  the  craving  of  the  youthful  and 
untutored  mind  for  original  knowledge,  and  the  inhumanity 
of  offering  a  stone  to  the  son  who  asks  for  bread. 

In  the  first  place  then,  it  may  be  observed  that  as  the  idea 
of  Number  exists  in  the  mind  as  a  part  of  memory,  so  the 
combinations  of  numbers  are  essentially  mere  matters  of 
memory.  We  remember  that  two  and  two  make  four,  just 
as  we  remember  that  blue  and  yellow  make  green  ;  but  we 
cannot  conceive  of  a  numerous  nothing,  any  more  than  of  a 
colored  nothing.  When  therefore  the  pupil  demands  of  the 
teacher  his  authority  for  saying  that  two  and  two  make  four, 
or  that  a  whole  is  greater  than  a  part,  the  teacher  may  wisely 
refrain  from  replying  that  the  doctrine  is  a  self-evident  truth, 
apart  from  its  application  to  matter.  By  basing  his  assertion 
wholly  on  the  ground  of  observation,  by  contenting  himself, 


NUMBER   AS   AN   OBJECT.  33 

for  instance,  with  showing  that  two  sticks  and  two  sticks 
make  four  sticks,  he  may  both  guard  his  pupil  from  the  pre 
sumption  of  more  than  mortal  independence  of  intellect,  and 
himself  from  the  danger  of  being  requested  to  explain  how, 
upon  conceded  mathematical  principles,  two  and  two  make 
forty,  or  an  hundred,  as  truly  as  they  make  four,  if  the  num 
bers  do  not  refer  to  anything. 

Another  result  of  this  view  of  the  origin  of  our  knowledge 
of  Number,  is  a  consistent  theory  of  the  intellectual  processes 
of  Multiplication  and  Division.  Although,  for  instance,  25 
times  25,  if  the  multiplicand  be  considered  a  merely  abstract 
number,  are  equal  to  nothing;  and  although  25  cents  cannot 
be  multiplied  by  25  cents,  as  a  late  eminent  teacher  remarked, 
any  more  than  25  lawyers  by  25  bears,  yet  25  cents  may  be 
multiplied  by  25,  as  surely  as  one  cent  may  be,  and  without 
any  danger  of  our  being  at  a  loss  to  decide  whether  the  result 
is  6\  cents,  or  $6.25.  Here  again  the  labor  of  intellect,  being 
confined  to  perception,  recollection  and  inference,  without  any 
recourse  to  the  hypothetical  postulates  which  have  heretofore 
been  so  largely  made  the  basis  of  mathematical  science,  en 
ables  all  to  unite  intelligently  on  the  firm  ground  of  natural 
truth.  There  is  hypothesis  of  course  in  every  movement  of 
the  intellect.  In  the  present  case  both  the  more  concrete 
multiplicand  and  the  more  abstract  multiplier,  are  hypothe 
ses,  as  the  result  is  also  an  hypothesis  until  it  shall  be  realized 
in  some  external  negotiation.  But  inasmuch  as  the  operation 
is  not  ostensibly  based  upon  hypothesis,  we  may  thus  far  at 
least  avoid  countenancing  the  too  often  convenient  doctrine, 
that  there  are  fields  of  knowledge  in  which  it  is  our  right  and 
duty  to  be  unintelligible.  How  can  any  doctrine  be  essen 
tially  unintelligible,  in  which  the  teacher  may  have  followed 
the  example  of  the  beloved  disciple  and  veteran  apostle  of  the 
LORD  CHRIST,  in  proclaiming  only  that  which  his  eyes  have 
seen  and  his  hands  have  handled,  of  the  object  which  is  his 
subject  ? 


CURRENT  ARITHMETIC. 


**  That  which  is  wanting  cannot  be  numbered." — ECCLES.  /.  , 

MY  ciphering  5s  strange  work,  I  find. 

I  first  take  nothings,  and  in  sport 
Pretend  them  somethings.     In  my  mind 

I  count  them,  till  I  cut  them  short, 

And  say,  So  many.     Then  some  more 
I  take,  and  mix  with  them,  and  call 

It  ADDING.     Or  to  stint  my  store, 
I  say  SUBTRACT  a  part  from  all. 

Such  sport  is  this  Arithmetic  ! 

My  nothing-somethings  thus  at  will 
I  call  to  mind,  and,  sparse  or  thick, 

By  pure  pretence  arrange  them  stilL 

But  one  thing  more  : — as  I  enact, 
I  still  remember  what  I  do  : 

I  COUNT,  I  ADD,  and  I  SUBTRACT, 

I  order,  and  keep  all  in  view. 

In  added  addings,  I  pretend, 
1  have  a  helper  close  at  hand  : 

A  counted  counter  is  this  friend, 
To  MULTIPLY  at  my  command. 

And  in  repeated  stintings,  too, 
By  like  invention  or  pretence, 

I  find  a  friend  like  work  to  do, 
DIVIDING,  less  in  fact  than  sense. 

And  so  are  all  the  other  rules 
Which  fag  the  faculties  of  youth, 

Like  all  the  cant  of  all  the  schools, 
Partly  pretence,  and  partly  truth. 
84 


THE   HOUSE   OF   BONDAGE. 


"  THE  earnest  expectation  of  the  creation  waits  for  the  revelation  of  the  sons 
of  God.  Because  the  creation  has  been  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but 
by  reason  of  Him  who  made  it  subject  in  hope.  For  the  creation  itself 
will  also  be  set  free  from  the  servitude  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  free 
dom  of  the  children  of  God.  Forasmuch  as  we  know,  that  all  the  creation 
both  groans  and  is  in  labor  together  until  now.  Not  only  so,  but  also  our 
selves,  who  have  the  first  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  in  our 
selves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  the  redemption  of  our  body." — ROM. 
viii.  19-23. 

T)ANTHEISM  and  Transcendentalism  are  terms  of  mod- 
.L  ern  date,  which,  belonging  rather  to  the  history  of  grop 
ing  speculation,  than  to  that  of  definite  progress  in  doctrine, 
must  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  general  reader  but  a  vague 
or  a  doubtful  meaning.  Perhaps  they  may  be  most  dis 
tinctly  defined  by  saying  that  Pantheism  is  the  doctrine  or 
heresy  which  confounds  GOD  with  the  created  universe,  and 
Transcendentalism  that  which  confounds  Man  with  it.  Per 
haps  it  may  also  be  safely  said  that  the  two  are  fused  to 
gether  into  the  most  subtle  form  of  practical  Atheism,  by  a 
third  heresy,  which  has  received  the  name  of  Rationalism, 
and  which  consists  essentially  in  the  confusion,  still  more 
glaringly  absurd  when  thus  separately  stated,  of  the  omnis 
cient  and  prescient  Creator  with  the  ignorant  though  per 
cipient  creature.  Of  the  three,  Transcendentalism  is  evi 
dently  the  doctrine  or  assumption  which  approaches  nearest 
to  being  an  aspect  of  universal  truth  or  experience,  since  the 
external  universe  is  practically  found,  as  well  as  divinely 

35 


36  THE  HOUSE   OF  BONDAGE. 

promised,  to  be  the  servant  of  man,  so  far  as  man  is  mastei 
of  himself.  It  is  chiefly  the  want  of  a  due  regard  to  this  con 
dition  of  self-mastery  or  self-subjection,  resulting  from  a  want 
of  appreciation  of  the  crucifying  discipline  through  which 
only  it  can  be  truly  attained,  which  makes  the  doctrine  taught 
under  that  name  unsound  and  impracticable.  We  can  all 
see  the  point  of  the  friendly  satire  in  which  its  most  famous 
representative  has  been  depicted,  as  one 

"  In  whose  eyes  all  creation  is  duly  respected, 
As  parts  of  himself,  just  a  little  projected  ;" 

but  it  is  no  less  evident  that  the  conquest  of  external  nature 
is  an  unceasing  result  of  the  continuous  march  of  intellect, 
which  again  is  equally  seen  in  an  enlarged  view  of  history, 
to  follow  the  spread  of  the  religion  of  self-denial.  "  Man," 
says  the  ingenious  author*  of  The  Sexuality  of  Nature,  "  is 
nature  concentrated  ;  Nature,  man  diffused."  There  is  evi 
dently  a  sense  in  which  the  outward  creation  as  a  whole  in 
creasingly  becomes  a  sort  of  social,  dividual  body  to  the  gen 
eral  human  mind,  however  the  believers  in  an  unregenerate 
"self-respect"  may  fall  short  in  its  attempted  possession. 
Thus  far  therefore  we  may  recognize  an  element  of  truthful 
ness  in  the  assumptions  of  Transcendentalism,  without  accept 
ing  its  crude  extravagances,  or  at  all  committing  ourselves  to 
the  support  of  the  associated  delusions  of  Pantheism  and 
Rationalism.  A  few  words  of  acknowledgment  are  here  due 
to  our  authority  for  the  somewhat  transcendental  variation 
from  the  common  version  of  the  above  cited  extract  from  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans. 

Little  appears  to  be  known  of  ANTHONY  PURVER,  except  the 
history  of  his  Translation  of  the  Bible.  Of  the  work  itself 
almost  as  little  is  known  even  to  his  successors  in  religious 
profession. |  There  is  ground  for  believing  that  the  fruits  of 
his  industry  in  that  labor  of  love  have  not  yet  been  received 

*  LEOPOLD  HARTLEY  GRIN  DON. 
t  Of  the  Society  of  Friends. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  BONDAGE.  37 

by  the  religious  and  literary  world  with  the  appreciation 
which  they  deserve  ;  but  as  the  triumphs  of  truth  and  justice 
are  ever  rendered  more  complete  by  delay,  we  may  regard 
this  circumstance  without  regret,  on  account  either  of  the 
work  or  of  the  workman.  "  He  who  believeth  maketh  not 
haste,"  because  in  and  through  faith  he  has  "  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for."  With  the  qualification  of  a  scholarship 
which  was  rather  profound  than  general  or  promiscuous,  our 
Friend  seems  to  have  brought  to  his  work  a  zeal  for  literal 
accuracy,  which  was  alike  removed  from  a  superstitious  rever 
ence  for  his  materials,  and  from  a  presumptuous  confidence 
in  his  own  powers  of  interpretation.  He  often  calls  our 
attention  to  instances  in  which  the  same  word,  occurring  in 
different  parts  of  the  original  text,  has  been  diversely  ren 
dered  in  our  authorized  version,  at  the  discretion  or  caprice 
of  the  translators;  thus  perhaps  indicating  his  conviction  that 
the  simple  language  of  pure  inspiration  needs  not,  nor  admits 
of  the  gloss  of  an  artificial  variety.  But  in  one  remarkable 
instance  he  deviates,  in  this  respect,  both  from  the  original 
Scripture  and  from  other  versions.  He  presumes,  for  once, 
to  suggest  that  the  original  utterance  may  not  have  been  suf 
ficiently  explicit  for  all  time.  When  the  apostle  Peter,  after 
telling  us  to  "  honor  all  men,"  specifically  enjoins  upon  us  to 
"honor  the  king,"  he  thinks  that  this  is  not  enough,  and  is 
constrained  to  say  "  reverence  the  king,"  by  way  of  increasing 
the  distinction.  In  this  latter  half  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
such  scrupulosity  may  probably  seem  superfluous  to  readers 
on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  but  we  may  at  least 
honor  the  independence  of  thought  which  proceeded  from 
such  loyalty,  as  his  doubtless  was,  to  the  political  sovereignty 
under  which  he  flourished.  Our  opening  text  is  given  accord 
ing  to  Purver's  Translation,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  fair 
specimen  of  his  literal  fidelity. 

"The  land  of  Egypt,  the  house  of  bondage"  of  which  we 
so  often  read  in  the  record  of  the  dealings  of  Almighty  GOD 
with  his  chosen  people  under  the  patriarchal  and  Mosaic  dis- 
4 


3  THE  HOUSE   OF  BONDAGE. 

pensations,  is  an  impressive  type  of  the  spiritual  condition  in 
which  all  the  children  of  Adam  enter  into  the  world,  and  in 
which  they  must  at  the  best  remain,  except  as  "  the  spirit  of 
bondage"  may  be  exchanged  for  "the  spirit  of  adoption." 
The  power  of  Him  who  came  to  bruise  the  head  of  the  Ser 
pent,  and  his  power  alone,  is  still  able,  as  joined  with,  to  re 
move  the  curse  of  the  fall  in  its  individual  application,  and  to 
restore  us  "from  the  servitude  of  corruption  to  the  glorious 
freedom  of  the  children  of  GOD." 

As  the  apostle  elsewhere  writes,  "  whilst  we  are  at  home 
in  the  body,  we  are  absent  from  the  LORD  ;"  and  it  is  accord 
ingly  natural  for  the  carnal  mind  to  forget  its  divine  Author 
and  Benefactor.  In  making  idols  of  the  riches  of  creation, 
we  may  thus  practically  and  even  avowedly  deny  the  only 
Creator ;  but  we  will  not  find  that  such  false  devotion  can 
secure  us  from  the  power  of  evil.  A  much-admired  poetess,* 
whose  voice  is  but  lately  hushed,  has  sadly  sung, 

"  The  fool  hath  said,  There  is  no  GOD, 
But  none,  There  is  no  sorrow." 

Disappointments,  vexations  and  perplexities  are  sure  to  as 
sail  and  oppress  the  soul  which  is  not  redeemed  from  all  reli 
ance  upon  objects  of  sense  and  upon  merely  human  sympathy, 
through  the  indwelling  of"  the  Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up 
Jesus  from  the  dead."  That  merely  human  "  favor  is  deceit 
ful,"  as  merely  outward  "beauty  is  vain,"  is  a  confession 
which  has  been  attributed  to  one  whose  knowledge  of  the 
world  was  not  to  be  surpassed ;  and  the  lesson  is  confirmed 
to  us  by  the  testimony  of  the  apostle  of  love,  who  ranks 
"  the  pride  of  life"  and  "  the  lust  of  the  eye"  with  the  grovel 
ing  "  lust  of  the  flesh,"  declaring  that  they  all  "  are  not  of  the 
Father,  but  of  the  world."  Whatever  may  be  our  worldly 
advantages,  if  we  turn  away  from  the  offers  of  the  Divine 
Grace  which  alone  is  sufficient  for  us,  and  which  can  always 

*  ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING. 


THE  HOUSE    OF  BONDAGE.  39 

adapt  our  desires  to  our  circumstances,  we  make  ourselves 
the  slaves  of  our  circumstances,  and  tools  of  the  Evil  Power, 
who  through  them  seeks  to  blind  our  spiritual  vision.  The 
whole  creation  may  thus  become  a  "  a  house  of  bondage"  to 
the  soul  which  regards  not  the  importunity  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  which  despises  the  seeming  weakness  of  the  cross  of 
Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  the  whole  creation  will  assuredly 
become  a  temple  of  liberty  and  gladness  and  praise,  "  a  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth"  beyond  the  reach  of  "  the  second 
death,"  to  all  who  by  a  faithful  submission  and  adherence  to 
the  terms  of  salvation  "obtain  a  part  in  the  first  resurrection." 
Whatever  the  worldly  disadvantages  of  these  may  seem  to  be, 
they  will  at  least  be  always  the  contented  masters  of  their 
circumstances,  and  triumphant  in  them  over  the  wiles  of  Satan 
and  of  human  adversaries. 

We  read  that  during  the  plague  of  darkness  which  overtook 
their  oppressors,  "  the  Children  of  Israel  had  light  in  their 
dwellings."  So,  in  the  perfect  dispensation  in  which  all 
transient  types  are  permanently  fulfilled,  the  singleness  of 
vision,  which  consists  in  an  unreserved  and  uncalculating  de 
votion  to  duty,  is  the  prescribed  condition  upon  which  alone 
our  whole  bodies  maybe  filled  with  light.  Imaginations  and 
inventions  are  of  no  avail  for  the  attainment  of  this  signal 
blessing.  Both  the  individual  culture,  which  is  grounded  on 
the  mere  love  of  what  we  may  call  beauty,  and  the  officious 
action  which  aims  even  at  the  welfare  of  our  brethren  other 
wise  than  as  an  object  secondary  to  the  discharge  of  our  own 
spiritual  calling,  must  be  regarded  as  mere  refinements  of  sel 
fishness  and  self-assertion.  We  may  thus  wander  into  Unita 
rian  license  on  the  one  hand  and  into  Romish  supererogation 
on  the  other  ;  but  the  cross  of  Christ,  as  immediately  revealed 
and  adapted  to  the  need  of  every  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is 
the  one  universal  and  undeceitful  rule  of  duty  for  fallen  man, 
and  the  simple  means  of  that  union  with  GOD  and  with  one 
another,  whereby  we  may  realize  in  all  our  actions  the  effi 
ciency  and  harmony  of  true  freedom.  A  true  sympathy  with 


40  THE  HOUSE  OF  BONDAGE. 

our  fellow-men  will  doubtless  lead  us  to  seek  every  refinement 
of  their  mental  and  physical  condition,  and  every  enlargement 
of  their  opportunities  for  action,  which  their  constitutional 
sensibilities  may  fit  them  for.  Surely,  the  world  affords  no 
nobler  object  of  pursuit !  But  is  there  no  danger  of  our  stoop 
ing  in  bondage  to  "the  beggarly  elements"  even  in  such  a 
work  as  this?  As  subjects  of  the  spiritual  and  perfect  dis 
pensation  of  the  Gospel,  are  we  not  bound  to  teach  and  ex 
emplify  the  entire  subordination  of  the  resources  of  nature  to 
those  of  grace,  through  all  the  diversities  of  inherited  and 
acquired  character  and  condition  ?  Let  us  then  beware  of 
allowing  our  zeal  to  overrule  our  knowledge,  and  by  placing 
sentiment  before  experience  or  philanthropy  before  religion, 
to  confirm  our  inherited  bondage,  seeing  that  "  there  remain- 
eth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin,"  to  the  victims  of  the  second 
death. 


THE   LAW   OF  THE   ROAD. 


"Be  of  one  mind."— i  COR.  i.  10;  2  COR.  xiii.  n.,  ETC. 

HEAVEN  is  the  reward  of  faithful  labor.  It  is  the  rest 
from  labor,  and  the  completion  of  labor,  so  far  as  labor 
involves  struggle  and  strife  ;  although  it  may  be  called  the 
very  beginning  of  action,  so  far  as  action  is  animated  by  that 
divine  harmony  of  pure  strength  and  perfect  fitness,  through 
which  alone  activity  becomes  entirely  effectual  and  fruitful. 
In  either  case  the  knowledge  of  this  divine  harmony  implies 
the  knowledge  of  GOD,  which  is  life  eternal ;  and  the  increase 
of  it  which  GOD,  through  CHRIST,  and  by  the  SPIRIT,  works  in 
the  souls  of  his  earnest  seekers  and  submissive  children,  is  the 
true  promotion  of  his  glory.  The  salvation  of  their  own  souls, 
and  the  glory  of  their  Creator,  are  thus  practically  one  object 
in  the  aspirations  of  Christians. 

The  Eternal  being  the  only  ground  and  foundation  of  the 
Temporal,  the  unseen  world  of  course  supplies  the  principles 
through  which  alone  the  agencies  and  circumstances  of  out 
ward  life  can  be  reconciled  with  one  another,  or  appreciated 
and  applied  in  the  simplicity  which  the  unity  of  truth  re 
quires.  This  is  obviously  what  some  writers  who  are  called 
transcendental  mean,  when  they  teach  that  the  supernatural, 
is  more  important  and  more  real,  while  no  less  present,  than 
the  natural.  Through  the  inherited  infirmity  which  the  pride 
of  acquired  learning  and  power  cannot  ignore,  we  are  natur 
ally  more  prone  to  the  investigation  of  the  superficial  than  of 

4  *  41 


42  THE   LAW   OF   THE   ROAD. 

the  profound,  and  have  to  arrive  at  our  knowledge  of  force 
only  through  our  experience  of  form.  We  are  born  as  it  were 
upon  the  surface  of  things,  the  first  birth  being  that  of  the 
flesh,  and  not  that  of  the  spirit.  We  are  naturally  fragmentary 
and  impotent,  although  seemingly  independent,  individuals  ; 
but  we  are  called  to  become  sympathizing  members  of  a 
dividual  fellowship,  in  which  the  will  is  free  because  it  is 
one  and  comprehensive,  while  the  actions  are  dependent  be 
cause  they  are  manifold  and  comprehended.  The  natural, 
or  individual  and  divided,  is  our  appointed  road  to  the  super 
natural,  or  dividual  and  united.  The  Christian  pilgrimage  is 
that  by  which  we  must  travel  from  the  state  of  nature  to  the 
state  of  grace,  if  we  ever  become  true  Christians. 

Labor  is  of  three  kinds  or  degrees.  There  is  the  labor  of 
the  heart  or  of  the  soul,  the  labor  of  the  head  or  of  the  mind, 
and  the  labor  of  the  hands  and  auxiliary  muscles  and  mem 
bers.  The  diversities  of  human  labor,  like  all  other  healthy 
diversities,  have  indeed  their  common  principle  of  unity,  and 
that  principle  is  here  the  action  of  the  human  will.  Involun 
tary  or  unconscious  habit  is  not  labor,  any  more  than  are 
the  changes  of  the  so-called  inanimate  elements  of  nature, 
which  represent  no  other  life  than  the  will  of  their  omnipres 
ent  Creator.  The  three  kinds  of  labor  may  therefore  be  said 
to  be  manifested,  so  far  as  they  can  be  manifested,  the 
first  in  motives  or  dispositions ;  the  second,  in  original 
thoughts ;  and  the  third,  in  voluntary  actions,  or  adopted 
habits. 

In  dealing  with  our  fellow  men  we  are  constantly  called 
upon  to  pass  judgment  upon  their  performances,  as  our  only 
alternative  from  passing  judgment  upon  themselves.  Their 
dispositions  and  intentions  are  a  part  of  themselves ;  their  ex 
pressions  and  actions  are  the  fruits  which  they  impart  for  our 
probation  and  possible  benefit,  whether  they  are  so  designed 
by  them  or  not.  These,  therefore,  it  is  our  duty  to  attend  to 
and  to  deal  with,  according  to  our  own  views  of  their  value 
and  applicability.  As  external  facts,  they  are  the  natural 


•VERSITT; 


THE  LAW  OF  THE  ROAD.       |T5 

media  of  communion  through  which  all  who  recognize  the 
permanent  principles  of  the  internal  life,  may  test  the  de 
grees  of  their  relationship  in  those  ties  of  intellect,  which  may 
be  said  to  be  intermediate  to  the  strictly  external  and  the 
strictly  internal  regions  of  experience.  As  it  is  those  only 
who  have  laid  hold  of  permanent  principles,  who  can  truly 
think  originally  or  for  themselves,  original  thoughts  must 
imply  honest  hearts  ;  and  the  extent  to  which  such  can  agree 
in  the  estimation  of  external  events,  is  the  measure  of  their 
ability  to  sympathize  and  co-operate  in  the  work  of  the 
world.  An  inability  to  agree  in  thought  in  regard  to  the 
facts  of  our  joint  experience,  evidently  implies  either  a  want 
of  the  singleness  of  purpose  which  an  earnest  belief  in  the 
unity  of  principles  supplies,  or  a  latent  and  constitutional 
diversity  in  mental  prepossession  or  the  habits  of  thought. 
The  one  of  these  difficulties  must  be,  and  the  other  may  be, 
an  insuperable  barrier  to  our  uniting  in  labor  as  lovers  of 
truth. 

Since,  however,  union  or  fellowship  is  the  noblest  object 
of  labor  with  which  this  world  supplies  us,  and  may  indeed 
be  said  to  be  the  very  experience  which  connects  the  life  of 
earth  with  that  of  heaven,  it  becomes  and  ever  remains  our 
duty  to  do  all  that  we  can  to  surmount  whatever  barriers  we 
may  find  in  the  way  of  its  increasing  realization.  And  as 
true  union  is  that  only  which  proceeds  from  the  fellowship 
of  spirit,  this  is  the  standard  by  which  all  subordinate  forms 
of  fellowship  are  to  be  estimated.  As  similarity  of  action  is 
not  desirable  save  as  it  proceeds  from  and  implies  similarity 
of  opinion,  so  neither  is  similarity  of  opinion,  save  as  it  im 
plies  similarity  of  feeling.  As  has,  however,  already  been 
observed,  similarity  of  opinion  is  a  measure  or  test  of  the  de 
gree  of  fellowship  which  honest  hearts  can  maintain  in  ac 
tion  :  and  since,  in  the  exercise  of  the  charity  which  "believes 
all  things,"  we  are  bound  to  presume  that  our  fellows,  in 
whatever  depth  of  darkness  and  depravity  they  may  have 
been  sunk  by  external  influences  or  by  their  own  previous 


44  THE  LAW  OF  THE  ROAD. 

transgressions,  are  at  least  for  the  present  honest  in  their  pur 
suit  of  good,  similarity  of  opinion  may  be  regarded  as  the 
single  goal  to  which  our  efforts  at  fellowship  should  be  prac 
tically  directed.  The  manifestation  of  opinions  in  actions  is 
indefinitely  modified  and  masked  by  varying  circumstances  ; 
and  our  feelings  are  naturally  inappreciable  to  others  save  as 
they  are  embodied  and  communicated  in  opinions  and  actions. 
Fellowship,  therefore,  in  the  purely  external,  being  compara 
tively  unattainable,  and  in  the  purely  internal  comparatively 
inappreciable,  the  intermediate  or  intellectual  region  of  expe 
rience  remains,  as  that  in  which  we  must  in  the  first  place 
strive  to  unite,  if  we  aim  at  a  fellowship  which  may  be  at 
once  feasible  and  fruitful.  Our  law  of  intercourse  is  thus  in 
dicated  both  by  its  own  propriety,  and  by  the  exclusion  of 
others  which  might  be  rashly  adopted  as  more  practicable  or 
more  refined. 

The  Present  may  be  styled  our  road  to  tj^e  Future,  as  the 
External  is  to  the  Internal.  The  two*  journeys  may  be  re 
garded  as  one,  and  the  same  rules  may  be  recognized  as  the 
guides  of  our  pilgrimage  in  each.  Human  fellowship  must 
be  regarded  in  each  as  the  strongest  support  and  the  no 
blest  object,  after  the  pure  communion  with  the  divine  Author 
of  our  being.  The  surest  instrumental  agency,  as  we  have 
now  seen,  by  which  we  can  promote  this  fellowship,  is  the 
labor  of  intellect.  It  becomes  us,  in  the  next  place,  to  seek 
to  perform  that  labor  with  the  independence  which  proceeds 
from  true  earnestness,  and  with  the  prudence  which  proceeds 
from  true  humility. 

Assuming,  as  we  must,  the  unity  of  truth,  we  may  infer 
that  the  only  effectual  labor  of  intellect  is  that  which  tends  to 
realize  that  unity,  by  an  ever  growing  appreciation  of  its  pro 
found  importance.  If  we  thus  realize  it  for  ourselves,  and 
subsequently  find  that  it  has  been  realized  by  others,  we  so 
discover  a  ground  of  union  between  ourselves  and  them.  But 
if  we  begin  by  assuming  a  ground  of  union  with  any  to  whom 
we  may  capriciously  wish  to  be  attached,  and  seek  accord- 


THE  LAW  OF   THE  ROAD.  45 

ingly  to  conform  our  opinions  to  what  we  may  conceive  theirs 
to  be,  we  must  evidently  be  living  at  best  upon  a  borrowed 
faith,  which  will  lack  strength  if  it  do  not  also  lack  sound 
ness,  and  which  will  be  sure  to  desert  us,  if  it  do  not  destroy 
us,  in  the  inevitable  time  of  trial.  In  the  one  case  we  pursue 
the  path  of  wisdom  ;  in  the  other,  that  of  folly.  Their  marks 
are  easily  distinguishable  when  thus  brought  into  contrast.  It 
behooves  every  one  to  bear  in  mind  the  simple  difference  be 
tween  them,  and  to  be  upon  the  watch  to  confirm  the  good, 
and  to  reform  the  evil,  in  his  own  character  and  career.  As 
each  one  is  busied  with  thinking  upon  his  own  duties,  he  will 
not  be  in  danger  of  attributing  imaginary  thoughts  to  other 
people,  either  :o  their  annoyance  or  for  his  own  delusion. 
The  truth  is  happily  so  inexhaustible  in  its  grandeur  and 
loveliness,  that  its  earnest  votaries  will  value  even  the  delights 
of  human  fellowship,  but  as  brooks  by  the  way,  while  pressing 
forward  to  the  perfrct  union  in  the  Father's  house  of  "  many 
mansions,"  which  is  built  upon  the  Rock,  IMMANUEL. 


ATONEMENT. 


"  With  his  stripes  we  are  healed." — ISA.  liii.  5  ;  i  PET.  ii.  34. 

THE  word  once  spoken  may  not  be  recalled : 

Time  past  may  not  return  : 
How  shall  the  forfeit  be  forestalled 

To  justice  stern  ? 

I  wring  my  hands  and  gnash  my  teeth  in  vain? 

In  view  of  my  mistake, 
I  seem  to  feel  the  mark  of  CAIN, 

And  fear  and  quake. 

And  still  I  struggle  to  restore  the  deix  j 

Alas  !  new  debts  arise, 
From  new-found  duties  pressing  yet 

On  me  unwise. 

Dread  taskmaster !  by  thee,  O  Law  !  I  die, 

Except  some  miracle 
My  lack  of  service  shall  supply, 

And  speed  me  well. 

Were  once  the  mischief  of  the  past  removed, 

My  life,  from  tumult  free, 
Might  journey  in  the  path  approved, 

Not  hopelessly. 

Then  should  I  know  a  GOD  of  strength  and  \\ill 

To  meet  my  present  need, 
And  ready  with  conducting  skill 

My  course  to  speed. 

Spring,  Holy  Fount  of  healing  love  !  for  such 

Our  fathers  say  Thou  art ; 
And  cleanse  with  thy  sufficient  touch 

My  leprous  heart ! 
46 


THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE. 


"  THOU  shall  no  more  be  termed  Forsaken,  neither  shall  thy  land  be  any 
more  termed  Desolate :  but  thou  shalt  be  called  Hephzibah,  and  thy  land 
Beulah  :  for  the  LORD  delighteth  in  thee,  and  thy  land  shall  be  married." — 
ISA.  Ixii.  4. 

THE  last  seven  chapters  of  the  Book  of  the  Evangelical 
Prophet  vividly  portray  the  doom  of  the  self-deluded 
voluptuary,  as  contrasted  with  the  reward  of  the  self-denying 
believer  in  the  work  and  merits  of  the  only  Saviour.  As  the 
denial  of  self  ensures  a  devotion  to  the  demands  of  duty,  by 
simply  suppressing  the  disposition  to  idle  indulgence  which 
is  natural  to  man,  CHRIST  crucified  is  found  to  be  ever  "the 
power  of  GOD  and  the  wisdom  of  GOD"  to  all  who  lift  their 
affections  from  "  the  things  which  perish  with  the  using," 
"  desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  their  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  The  cross  of  CHRIST,  being 
proposed  to  us  as  an  universal  rule  of  life,  evidently  renders 
all  compromise  impossible  between  the  pursuit  of  pleasure 
and  that  of  duty,  leaving,  indeed,  the  impure  pleasure  which 
is  sought  and  found  for  its  own  sake,  as  a  heritage  of  corrup 
tion  to  those  who  despise  its  discipline,  but  opening  ever  new 
sources  of  happiness  to  those  who  value  pleasure  merely  as 
the  handmaid  of  duty.  The  antagonism  between  pleasure 
and  duty  is  one  which  has  originated  in  sin,  and  which  sub 
sists  only  in  the  u  evil  heart  of  unbelief."  In  the  experience 
of  the  regenerate  Christian,  they  are  reconciled  "  both  untc 
GOD  in  one  body  by  the  Cross,"  which  alone  is  able  as  sub 

47 


48  THE  LAND    OF  PROMISE. 

milled  to,  to  keep  the  love  of  the  reward  in  its  proper  subor 
dination  to  the  love  of  the  work,  and  to  induce  a  neglect  of 
earthly  enjoyment  save  as  it  may  be  the  attendant  of  faithful 
performance.  Duty  being  followed  as  the  only  object  and 
the  only  law  of  life,  so  far  as  any  object  and  law  are  needed 
other  than  the  love  of  GOD  and  of  our  fellow-men,  pleasure 
will  be  found  at  our  side  as  a  faithful  and  useful  ally  in  the 
work  of  righteousness,  and  beauty  will  not  lag  far  behind. 
The  principle  of  enmity  being  thus  slain  in  ourselves,  the 
occasion  of  enmity  with  one  another  will  also  be  removed, 
and  all  feelings  of  division  and  distance  will  be  superseded 
by  those  of  fellowship  and  attraction,  as  we  steadily  advance 
to  the  goal  of  heavenly  union  in  the  Divine  Centre  and  Source 
of  all  good. 

The  charity  or  love  which  never  fails,  may  be  said  to  be 
represented  in  human  character  by  the  three  subordinate  and 
co-ordinate  traits,  of  humility,  simplicity,  and  activity  ;  which, 
again,  are  respectively  manifested  in  outward  life  by  the  fruits 
of  concord,  intelligence,  and  progress.  As  neither  of  these 
traits  can  be  the  genuine  offspring  of  the  faith  which  works 
by  love,  except  as  it  is  accompanied  by  the  others,  so  the 
fruits  which  severally  indicate  them  can  actually  exist  only 
in  combination.  Either  the  concord,  or  the  intelligence,  or 
the  progress,  seeming  to  exist  alone,  must  be  a  mere  seeming 
which  is  superficial,  unsound,  and  futile.  Existing  together, 
they  certify  a  happy  approach  to  that  only  worthy  object  of 
all  labor  and  aspiration,  the  realization  of  the  Divine  Pres 
ence  by  a  participation  in  the  divine  perfections.  "LoRD, 
Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  generations,"  was 
the  devout  acknowledgment  of  the  Jewish  leader  and  law 
giver,  uttered,  doubtless,  in  the  intense  appreciation  of  indi 
vidual  insignificance,  of  social  importance,  and  of  filial  effi 
ciency  for  every  good  word  and  work,  which  the  view  of 
himself,  of  his  fellows,  and  of  the  world,  in  the  light  of  divine 
revelation,  could  not  fail  to  supply.  In  accordance  with  this 
are  the  words  of  ELIHU,  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  in- 


THE  LAND    OF  PROMISE.  49 

spiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding;"  and 
those  of  King  SOLOMON,  "  GOD  hath  made  man  upright,  but 
they  have  sought  out  many  inventions."  The  occasion  of  all 
our  delusions  may  be  said  to  lie  in  the  peculiarities  which 
attach  to  our  individual  life,  in  consequence  of  our  ancestral 
fall.  Only  when  we  feel,  and  think,  and  act,  as  man,  and 
not  as  men  or  individuals,  do  we  observe  or  regain  the  integ 
rity  of  our  original  nature.  Despising  that  spiritual  simpli 
city  of  truth  and  good  which  can  in  our  fallen  estate  be  real 
ized  only  by  the  power  of  faith,  and  thinking  to  know  good 
exclusively  or  pre-eminently  for  ourselves,  we  reject  the  path 
of  true  discovery  for  that  of  delusive  invention.  Then  indeed 
are  we  "  taken  captive  by  the  Devil  at  his  will,"  relying  upon 
show  as  if  it  were  substance,  and  confirming  ourselves  by  the 
example  of  others  who  may  be  like-minded  with  us,  instead 
of  accepting  the  offered  guidance  of  the  only  infallible  SPIRIT. 
Then  do  we  lay  ourselves  open  to  the  apostolic  admonition, 
"  I  fear  lest  by  any  means  as  the  serpent  beguiled  EVE  through 
his  subtlety,  so  your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from  the  sim 
plicity  that  is  in  CHRIST."  But  as  we  individually  wait  for 
"the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,"  to  make  us  truly  acquaint 
ed  with  the  spirit -of  man,  and  with  all  its  wants,  and  with 
its  true  relations  to  the  Spirit  of  GOD,  it  becomes  possible  for 
the  empty  arrogance,  the  blinding  confusion,  and  the  specious 
slothfulness  of  spirit,  which  betray  the  continued  presence  of 
the  old  Serpent  in  the  world,  to  be  replaced  by  the  stable 
dignity,  the  enlightening  simplicity,  and  the  genuine  activity 
of  Divine  Love. 

The  life  of  true  work  is  one  with  the  life  of  true  faith. 
The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  after  writing  that 
"  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen,"  has  added,  "Without  faith  it  is  impossi 
ble  to  please  God :  for  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe 
that  He  is.  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently 
seek  Him."  This  soul-satisfying  conviction  is  doubtless  both 
the  preliminary  stimulus,  and  the  growing  consequence^  as 
5  B 


50  THE  LAND    OF  PROMISE. 

well  as  the  sure  test,  of  an  earnest,  working  faith.  The  apos 
tle  PAUL  testified  to  his  "son  in  the  faith,"  that  "godliness, 
with  contentment,  is  great  gain,  having  the  promise  of  the 
life  which  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  And  the 
same  eminent  authority  elsewhere  appeals  to  "that  holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession."  As  this 
Spirit  of  promise  can  only  be  apprehended  by  faith,  the  ex 
ercise  of  faith  consisting  indeed  in  nothing  more  or  less  than 
the  effectual  apprehension  of  its  holy  help,  it  follows  that  a 
true  faith  implies  a  measurable  realization  through  it  of  the 
Heavenly  Life.  Faith  and  its  consequence  being  thus  prac 
tically  inseparable,  we  may  understand  how  the  inspired 
penman,  without  deviating  from  the  ordinary  and  necessary 
license  of  language,  happened  to  write  of  faith  as  being  it 
self  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen."  His  object  was  doubtless  not  so  much  accu 
rately  to  define  a  doctrine,  in  advance  of  the  then  prevailing 
development  of  thought,  as  efficiently  to  commend  a  practice  ; 
and  his  words  were  clearly  neither  too  few,  nor  too  many,  nor 
illy  chosen,  for  the  occasion.  The  important  doctrine  which 
the  militant  Church  is  now  perhaps  preparing  to  maintain  with 
increasing  precision,  is,  that  true  working  faith,  the  "  obedi 
ence  of  faith"  as  distinguished  from  the  "  assurance  of  faith," 
is  simply  that  right  exercise  of  the  human  will,  or  power  of 
spiritual  choice,  which  is  necessary  for  the  reception  of  the 
freely  offered  salvation.  It  is  the  voluntary  submission  to  the 
drawings  of  that  Spirit  of  the  FATHER  of  spirits,  which  is  at 
once  the  Spirit  of  judgment  and  the  Spirit  of  promise.  The 
salvation  which  comes  by  faith  is  indeed  the  gift  of  GOD  in 
CHRIST  our  only  Atonement  and  Mediator ;  but  the  work  of 
faith  must  in  an  individual  sense,  begin  in  ourselves,  although 
that  beginning  may  consist  but  in  the  willing  realization  of 
our  own  impotence.  Only  as  it  thus  begins  can  it  be  hoped 
to  result  in  that  experimental  communion  with  the  FATHER 
which  leads  to  the  realization  of  his  heavenly  promises,  and 


THE  LAND    OF  PROMISE.  51 

the  fulfillment  of  his  perfect  will,  through  the  birth  of  that 
love,  and  the  nourishment  of  that  hope,  which  are  the  guide 
and  the  support  of  the  regenerated  soul. 

Many  indeed  are  the  occasional  promises  which  are  re 
corded  for  the  encouragement  of  those  who  seek  an  heavenly 
country.  The  riches  which  the  Almighty  Creator  can  and 
will  bestow  upon  his  obedient  children,  are  doubtless  as 
boundless  as  are  his  mercies  to  the  repentant  sinner ;  and  lest 
the  sinner  should  want  a  motive  to  repent,  he  is  even  re 
peatedly  reminded  that  the  very  revenues  of  the  wicked  shall 
become  the  heritage  of  the  just.  But  a  written  assurance  is 
of  merely  secondary  value  to  those  who  have  realized  the 
spiritual  substance  through  an  immediate  acquaintance  with 
the  Word  inwardly  revealed.  May  we  so  enter  by  the  door 
of  faith  into  the  synagogue  of  our  own  hearts,  as  ever  to  hear 
the  voice  of  Him  whose  wont  it  is  to  be  there  in  the  midst, 
while  He  proclaims,  "  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears  !"  Luke  iv.  21. 


THE   PLACE   OF   FICTION. 


"No  man  sevveth  a  piece  of  new  cloth  on  an  old  garment." — MARK  ii.  21. 

IT  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  contrast  between  Fact  and 
Fiction  is  less  definite  than  that  between  Truth  and  False 
hood.  Fact,  being  distinctively  the  embodiment  of  Truth  or 
knowledge,  and  Fiction,  that  of  Falsehood  or  ignorance,  they 
are  of  course  practically  distinguishable  from  each  other,  only 
so  far  as  we  may  succeed  in  tracing  actions  or  impressions 
to  the  determining  principles  of  character.  Fiction,  there 
fore,  as  a  most  frequent  if  not  universal  element  of  human 
performance  or  experience,  becomes  a  matter  of  immediate 
practical  interest  to  all  earnest  thinkers,  in  its  diverse  rela 
tions  to  Truth  or  essential  good,  and  to  Falsehood,  or  essential 
evil. 

So  far  as  human  knowledge  is  conjectural,  all  thought,  it 
is  evident,  must  partake  of  the  nature  of  fiction.  So  long  as 
human  systems  of  doctrine,  even  though  progressive  in  their 
tendency,  shall  be  fragmentary  in  themselves,  they  must 
themselves  be  obviously  fictions  as  compared  with  the  un 
seen  but  undoubted  perfect  system  to  which  they  tend.  We 
can  conceive  that  our  rudimentary  thoughts  and  systems  of 
thought  might  be  faultless  as  well  as  progressive  ;  and  then  we 
might  infer  that  our  own  starting-point  was  the  merely  nega 
tive  condition  of  ignorance.  It  is  the  circumstance  that  we 
can  accept  no  revelations  of  GOD  or  of  external  nature  as  a 
whole,  that  is,  without  the  consciousness  of  subjective  imper 
fections,  or  deficiencies  of  perception,  which  must  be  either 
62 


THE  PLACE    OF  FICTION.  53 

left  void  in  our  thought,  or  bridged  over  by  hypothesis,  which 
betrays  the  ravages  of  sin  in  our  intellectual  constitution,  and 
corroborates  the  outward  traditional  revelation  that  our  start 
ing-point  is  the  darkness  of  positive  unbelief.  Thus,  in  sub 
stance,  does  every  earnest  soul,  in  the  light  of  the  Spirit 
which  "helpeth  our  infirmities,"  demonstrate  to  itself  the 
necessity  of  the  faith  or  heart-belief,  of  which  it  is  testified 
that  "the  just  shall  live"*  by  it,  and  also  that  the  system 
and  substance  of  divine  truth,  or  the  "righteousness  of  GOD," 
is  "  revealed  from  faith  to  faith,"*  that  is,  progressively.  The 
element  of  fiction,  and  the  trace  of  falsehood,  though  un 
consciously  inhering  in  every  private  system  of  faith,  until 
faith  is  itself  lost  in  sight,  meanwhile  steadily  decreases  so 
far  as  the  soldier  of  faith  is  himself  concerned,  though 
ever  of  course  gaining  fresh  entrance  into  the  conquests 
which  he  bequeaths  to  his  still  struggling  companions  and 
successors. 

From  the  very  constitution  of  human  nature,  therefore, 
fiction  is  an  inseparable  element  of  social  life.  Individuals 
may  have  systems  of  faith  without  actually  putting  faith  in 
their  systems.  They  may  escape  delusion  as  their  faith  may 
be  the  leader  rather  than  the  follower  of  their  system.  But 
as  corporations  are  said  to  have  no  souls,  so  society  in  general 
has  no  conscience.  The  social  standard  is  but  a  sort  of 
average  of  individual  standards,  and  social  progress,  of  indi 
vidual  progress.  Every  one  therefore  who  mingles  in  human 
society  must  encounter  Fiction,  either  as  victor  or  as  victim. 
His  destiny  takes  the  direction  of  his  faith.  If  this  shall  be 
but  "  to  himself  before  God,"  he  will  with  the  best  of  reason 
"  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,"  and  will  tend  to  rise 
above  conventional  fiction,  even  while  using  it  for  conven 
tional  purposes.  If  on  the  other  hand  any  one  shall  surren 
der  his  faith  to  a  clique,  a  system  or  a  vocabulary,  he  is  sure 
to  "  condemn  himself  in  that  thing  which  he  alloweth."  The 
infinite  capacity  commits  itself  to  a  finite  aim.  "  The  man 

*  ROM.  i.  17. 
5* 


54  THE  PLACE   OF  FICTION. 

falls  down"*  to  an  unworthy  object,  and  as  he  persists,  the 
loss  must  be  indeed  "  past  retrieving."  The  all-significant 
if  not  all-important  province  of  language,  being  itself  wholly 
a  growth  of  fiction,  naturally  furnishes  the  most  abundant 
illustrations  of  the  course  of  character  in  either  direction. 
u  By  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words 
thou  sh;ilt  be  condemned,"  said  the  Incarnate  Word,f  and 
the  testimony  of  the  President  of  the  Apostles  may  be  simi 
larly  construed,  \  "  If  any  man  offend  not  in  word,  the  same 
is  a  perfect  man." 

As  Sir  JAMES  MACKINTOSH  has  profoundly  observed,  there 
is  a  special  talent  of  expression  to  every  order  of  thought. 
"  Those,"  said  he,  "  who  content  themselves  with  the  com 
mon  speculations  of  their  age,  generally  possess  the  talent  of 
expressing  them,  which  must  have  been  pretty  widely  dif 
fused  before  the  speculations  became  common."  Even  by 
comparatively  superficial  thinkers,  if  but  truly  circumspect 
livers,  the  universal  allegory  of  language  may  doubtless  be 
safely  and  profitably,  though  mechanically  or  semi-uncon- 
sciously  applied,  since,  as  has  been  often  suggested,  truth, 
like  corn,  has  to  be  consumed  and  lived  upon,  and  must,  to 
some  extent  be  sacrificed,  so  to  speak,  in  the  process, — the 
license  of  custom  serving  as  a  foil  to  the  otherwise  dangerous 
two-edged  sword,  on  the  theoretical  side.  But  a  nobler 
application,  a  deeper  work  of  faith,  which  is  comparable  to 
the  planting  of  the  seed-corn,  is  that  in  which  the  same  cele 
brated  thinker  proceeds  to  show  that  the  previous  application 
is  found  to  be  fictitious  : — "  But  there  are  times  when  there  is 
a  general  tendency  toward  something  higher,  and  when  no 
man  has  quite  reached  the  objects,  still  less  the  subsequent 
and  auxiliary  powers  of  expression.  In  these  intervals  be 
tween  one  mode  of  thinking  and  another,  literature  seems  to 

*  "  Little  were  the  change  of  statioif,  loss  of  life  or  crown  ; 
But  the  wreck  were  past  retrieving,  if  the  man  fell  down." 

LOWELL,  Makmood. 
t  MATT.  xii.  37.  J  JAM.  iii.  2. 


THE  PLACE    OF  FICTION.  55 

decline,  while  mind  is  really  progressive,  because  no  one  has 
acquired  the  talent  of  the  new  manner  of  thinking." 

Fictitious  narrative,  or  avowed  romance,  can  of  course 
only  have  a  legitimate  sphere  and  function,  so  far  as  pro 
fessedly  veracious  history  or  biography  may  fail  to  reflect 
the  essential  e1  "merits  of  actual  life  in  their  natural  fullness, 
and  just  relations  of  proportion  and  perspective.  Beyond  the 
limits  of  this  want,  it  must  evidently  at  best  be  but  a  second 
ary  and  distorted  reflection  of  nature,  adapted  only  to  the 
imaginary  demands  of  those  inferior  and  sectarian  orders  of 
character  and  intellect,  to  which  sincerity  is  repulsive,  and 
truth  terrible. 


ROMANCE. 


"  The  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs."— MATT.  rt.  17. 

OUR  common  life  is  creeping  prose  : 
We  heap  our  ant-hills  high, 

Exultant  that  our  puny  toes 
Should  so  sublimely  fly. 

For  how  can  common  life  ascend 

Above  the  things  of  earth, 
Or  on  the  baseless  dreams  depend 

Which  poets  bring  to  birth  ? 

Upon  what  common  ground,  think  you, 
Must  men  converse  or  band  ? 

Except  what  lies  beneath  their  view, 
What  can  they  understand  ? 

This  nether  world  alone  is  ours : 

Weak  children  of  the  clay, 
What  boots  it  to  inflate  our  powers, 

To  reach  the  orb  of  day  ? 

Yet  at  our  daylight's  frequent  close, 
See  duty's  stars  grow  bright, 

The  members  of  the  mind  repose, 
And  faith  extend  its  flight. 

Then  dreams  of  beauty  find  a  place : 
The  sternest  heart  succumbs, 

And  for  a  season  gains  the  grace 
To  feed  on  heavenly  crumbs. 

Oh,  tell  me  of  some  larger  life, 

E'en  now  on  earth  begun, 
Where  truth  and  beauty  drop  their  strife, 

And  rise  and  rule  as  one  ! 
M 


THE   DRIFT  OF  SYNTAX. 


'•  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech." — Ps.  xix.  2. 

iceberg  is  the  child  of  the  snow-flake.  Its  gradual 
JL  growth,  its  formidable  progress,  and  its  sudden  dissolu 
tion,  as  now  observed  and  understood,  alike  illustrate  the 
definite  action  of  gentle,  but  irresistible  and  all-pervading 
influences,  and  clearly  indicate  that  all  that  is  yet  unaccount 
able  in  meteorology  and  cosmology  may  be  attributed  to  the 
vastness  of  the  field  yet  to  be  explored,  rather  than  to  any 
essential  obscurity  of  the  determining  principles. 

The  field  of  Language,  no  less  than  that  of  physical  re 
search,  abounds  in  interesting  monuments  of  the  gradual  and 
silent  operation  of  almost  inappreciable  influences.  Though 
the  world  of  mind,  which  here  comes  into  view,  is  indisput 
ably  deeper  than  that  of  matter,  yet  for  this  element  of  diffi 
culty  the  explorer  has  at  least  the  compensating  encourage 
ment,  that  inasmuch  as  he  is  only  dealing  with  the  relics  of 
past  thought,  he  is  only  attempting  to  retrace  a  progress 
which  has  been  proved  possible  under  circumstances  of  ob 
servation  less  favorable  than  his  own. 

The  elements  of  language  may  be  broadly  divided  into  the 
impersonal  and  the  personal.  As  it  is  the  office  of  human 
speech  merely  to  express  human  knowledge  and  commu 
nicable  experience,  of  course  it  can  suggest  the  Deity  only 
secondarily,  or  so  far  as  He  may  be  at  once  symbolized  out 
wardly  in  his  creation,  and  known  inwardly  in  our  experi 
ence.  There  can  therefore  obviously  be  no  immediately 


5§  THE   DRIFT   OF  SYNTAX. 

divine  element  in  language,  except  such  as  it  may  share  with 
other  phenomena  of  more  purely  natural  origin.  Things 
and  people,  Nature  and  Man,  as  the  immediate  subjects  of  all 
speech,  are  the  material  of  all  suggestions,  and  the  basis  of  all 
inferences,  which  can  by  it  be  conveyed  from  mind  to  mind. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  personal  element  of  language  must 
distinctively  consist  in  the  expression  or  attribution  of  action 
and  feeling.  The  expression  or  attribution  of  mere  being,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  more  closely  limited, — and  with  increasing 
closeness  by  the  advance  of  general  science, — to  things,  and 
to  human  character  in  its  universal  or  impersonal  aspect. 
As  personal  views  or  aims  avowedly  prevail,  therefore,  verbs 
of  volition  and  consciousness  will  be  the  prominent  members 
of  a  sentence  ;  and,  as  impersonal  interests  are  discovered, 
and  pursued  or  professed,  nouns  substantive,  and  the  so-called 
substantive  verb,  "  to  be." 

Since  all  intelligent  communication  presupposes  a  basis  of 
mutual  intelligence,  there  are  always  some  words  in  a  sen 
tence  which  will  be  more  apt  to  be  anticipated  by  the  hearer 
as  being  suggested  by  the  others,  than  those  others  would  be 
if  left  to  the  latter  part  or  end  of  the  sentence.  Whether, 
therefore,  the  personal  or  the  impersonal  standard  of  interest 
and  ground  of  understanding  shall  prevail  between  speaker 
and  hearer,  the  hearer's  power  of  attention  will  be  best  econo 
mized,  and  his  stock  of  interest  most  surely  maintained  or  in 
creased,  by  leaving  the  more  matter-of-course,  though  con 
ventionally,  or  even  intrinsically,  more  important  words,  to 
the  last.  As  the  fixing  of  the  point  implies  the  content  of 
the  intellectual  pyramid,*  the  care  will  be  first  to  satisfy  the 

*  By  the  use,  indeed,  of  the  substantive  verb  in  combination  with  partici 
ples  or  infinitives  in  place  of  the  personal  moods,  every  sentence  may  be  con 
verted  into  a  sort  of  equation  in  which  the  logical  copula,  "  is,"  corresponds 
to  the  mathematical  sign  of  equality,  =.  But  where  an  agent  is  concerned, 
the  subject  must  be  either  of  greater  or  less  acknowledged  consequence  than 
the  logical  predicate,  according  as  the  aim  of  the  narrative  or  argument  is  the 
glory  of  the  individual,  or  the  illustration  of  abstract  truth.  In  this  case, 
therefore,  instead  of  a  suspended  balance,  the  sentence  may  be  compared  to 


THE  DRIFT   OF  SYNTAX.  59 

thirst  for  information  with  the  formal  little,  and  afterward  the 
sense  of  grammatical  completeness  with  the  formal  mi  ch. 
The  prevailing  structure  of  the  sentence,  in  a  particular  com 
munity  or  at  a  particular  era,  thus  becomes  an  index  of  the 
prevailing  creed  of  life,  as  implied  in  the  pre-supposed  basis 
of  common  intelligence.  Where,  as  among  the  old  Romans, 
virtue  is  practically,  as  well  as  etymologically,  identified  with 
mere  manliness,  the  tendency  to  hero-worship  inevitably 
shows  itself  in  the  customary  gravitation  of  the  verb  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sentence.  Where  good,  and  the  Source  of 
good,  are  sought  in  things  or  principles,  rather  than  in  peo 
ple,  as  to  some  extent  in  the  less  worldly-minded,  though  more 
ancient  Greeks,  and  more  largely  and  avowedly  in  the  more 
modern  professors  of  Christianity,  the  human  element  is  less 
developed,  or  shrinks  into  comparative  insignificance  by  the 
side  of  that  which  more  immediately  and  purely  symbolizes 
the  Creative,  and  Sustaining,  and  "Unspeakable"  WTORD. 

It  may  be  incidentally  remarked  as  being  perhaps  another 
result  of  the  defective  religion  of  the  great  military  nation, 
that  in  the  development  of  the  verb,  it  seems  to  have  system 
atically  discarded  the  use  of  a  simple  past  tense,  which  has 
so  generally  prevailed  both  among  more  ancient  and  more 
modern  peoples.  The  Imperfect  Tense  of  the  Latins,  like  that 
of  the  Greeks  before  them,  was  directly  expressive  only  of 
either  continuous  or  abortive  action,  and  by  no  means  sup 
plied  the  place  either  of  the  Greek  Aorist,  or  of  that  which 

a  standing  pyramid.  If  glory  be  the  chase,  the  aspirations  and  volitions  and 
subsequent  sentiments  of  the  hero  (verbs,  active  or  passive)  will  be  more 
readily  anticipated  and  less  eagerly  asserted,  than  the  materials  (nouns  sub 
stantive)  on  which  they  are  exercised,  and  which,  though  thus  subordinate  in 
secret  appreciation,  give  point,  as  we  say,  to  the  utterance,  by  indicating  that 
which  is  then  or  there  novel  in  the  method  and  results  of  the  life  whose  high 
est  flight  is  a  homage  to  circumstances.  In  the  investigation  and  demonstra 
tion  of  truth,  again,  the  mental  or  physical  movements  of  the  agent  are  in  like 
manner  seen  to  be  at  once  matters  intrinsically  of  secondary  importance,  and 
yet  temporarily  of  more  urgent  interest,  as  indicating  the  method  and  results 
of  the  life  which  is  a  continual  triumph  over  circumstances. 


60  THE  DRIFT  OF  SYNTAX. 

in  our  own  tongue  has  rather  capriciously  inherited  the  name 
of  the  Imperfect.  The  emphatic  Perfect  was  employed  by 
them  for  the  most  part  in  the  wide  range  of  occasions  to  which 
the  simple  past  tense,  whether  it  be  called  Aorist,  or  Imper 
fect,  or  Preterite,  is  properly  fitted.  There  is  a  sort  of  self- 
assertion,  or  dependence  on  mere  attainment,  in  their  habitual 
mention  of  the  past  as  something  which  is  perfected,  which 
can  perhaps  only  be  accounted  for  as  arising  from  a  theoret 
ical  though  doubtless  ever  confusing  and  often  disappointing 
dependence  on  the  permanence  of  worldly  interests  and  insti 
tutions.  Acknowledging  Right  only  as  it  was  embodied  in 
successful  Might,  they  were,  as  a  modern  observer  remarks 
of  a  modern  people,  "  impious  in  their  skepticism  of  a  theory" 
which  might  conflict  with  their  own,  but  they  "would  kiss 
the  dust  before  a  fact."  *  Foolishness,  indeed,  to  them  would 
have  seemed  the  boast  of  the  warrior-prophet  and  king  of  the 
Chosen  People,  "  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection  ;  but 
Thy  commandment  is  exceeding  broad." 

The  vagaries  of  language  are  necessarily  many,  and  may 
often,  in  the  infancy  of  the  social  intellect,  rise  to  the  rank 
of  temporary  institutions.  But  they  can  never  carry  the 
heart-believer  beyond  the  reach  of  the  voice  of  GOD  in  the 
soul  and  in  the  outward  creation  ;  and  all  of  them  must  at 
last  meet  and  terminate  in  the  universal  anthem  to  which  the 
Hebrew  lyre  was  so  early  and  happily  attuned  : 

'*  Praise  the  LORD  from  the  earth,  ye  dragons  and  all  deeps  : 
Fire,  and  hail ;  snow,  and  vapors  :  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  Word  : 
Mountains,  and  all  hills ;  fruitful  trees,  and  all  cedars  : 
Beasts,  and  all  cattle;  creeping  things,  and  flying  fowl : 
Kings  of  the  earth,  and  all  people  ;  princes,  and  all  judges  of  the  earth : 
Both  young  men,  and  maidens  ;  old  men,  and  children  : 
Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  LORD  :  for  his  name  alone  is  excellent  j 
His  glory  is  above  the  earth  and  heavens." 

*  EMERSON  ;  English  Traits. 


PROPHECY  AND  INTERPRETATION. 


"THE  word  of  GOD  is  not  bound." — 2  TIM.  ii.  9. 

"No  prophecy  of  the  Scripture  is  of  its  own  interpretation." — 2  PET.  i.  20. 

IT  is  a  remarkable  testimony  of  Lord  BACON  respecting 
some  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  they 
are  "  of  the  nature  of  their  Author,  to  whom  a  thousand 
years  are  as  one  day  ;  and  therefore  they  are  not  fulfilled 
punctually  at  once,  but  have  a  springing  and  germinant 
accomplishment  through  many  ages,  though  the  height  or 
fullness  of  them  may  refer  to  some  one  age."  The  power  of 
insight,  and  that  of  foresight,  will  doubtless  be  twin  mysteries 
so  long  as  the  objects  of  truth  upon  which  they  may  be  exer 
cised  shall  themselves  present  any  features  of  apparent  incon 
gruity.  As  the  true  seat  or  present  origin  of  all  mystery  con 
sists  merely  in  the  clouded  nature  of  our  own  perceptions,  the 
rectification  of  these  is  of  course  all  that  is  necessary  to  ex 
hibit  to  us  in  the  boundless  scenes  of  the  inward  and  outward 
creations  an  ever  prevailing  coherency.  When  the  true  con 
nection  of  body  with  spirit,  of  necessity  with  freedom,  and 
of  time  with  eternity,  shall  be  intelligently  realized,  truth  will 
doubtless  become  in  our  conceptions  the  unit  which  it  is  in 
reality;  and  insight  and  foresight  will  become  synonymous 
terms,  indicating  the  sure  and  ready  apprehension,  however 
limited  it  may  be  in  its  reach,  of  a  clear  and  collected 
intelligence. 

This  view  of  the  nature  of  our  own  ignorance,  and  of  the 
secret  identity  of  the  unknown  with  that  which  we  call  the 
6  61 


62  PROPHECT  AND   INTERPRETATION. 

known,  may  not  only  reconcile  to  our  apprehension  the  pos 
sibility  of  any  alleged  degree  of  intuition  or  of  premonition 
beyond  that  which  we  ourselves  may  for  the  time  enjoy,  but 
may  secure  us  from  rashly  discrediting  the  genuineness  of  any 
particular  prophetic  pretensions  on  the  ground  of  their  being, 
as  it  has  been  termed,  "  self-fulfilling."  The  dependence  of 
the  future  upon  the  present  being  recognized  as  the  basis  of 
all  prophetical  truth,  the  dependence  of  a  premonition  upon 
a  genuine  intuition  cannot  be  admitted  as  an  evidence  of 
cunning  contrivance  on  the  part  of  the  seer ;  but  will  actually 
confirm  the  value  of  his  warnings,  however  much,  by  elucidat 
ing  their  mode  of  origination,  it  may  abate  the  ignorant  awe 
which  may  have  attributed  to  him  a  degree  of  sanctity  and 
sagacity  almost  unattainable  by  mortals.  The  knowledge  of 
the  truth  is  indeed  the  great  leveler  of  human  distinctions, 
but  it  may  always  be  welcomed  by  the  lover  of  his  kind  as 
"  a  leveler  upward."  Well,  indeed,  might  the  great  jurist 
of  Israel  exclaim,  "Would  GOD  that  all  the  LORD'S  people 
were  prophets  !" 

If  insight  and  foresight  be  two  names  for  one  power  or 
process,  any  definite  limit  of  insight  must  also  be  a  definite 
limit  of  foresight.  The  fullness  of  any  inspiration  which 
may  be  embodied  in  words  is  thus  never  inexhaustible,  be 
cause  it  is  always  measurable.  Prophecy,  however,  whether 
it  be  called  insight,  or  whether  foresight,  is  none  the  less 
valuable  on  account  of  this  limitation,  since  it  is  always  avail 
able  as  a  testimony  for  the  truth  to  the  extent  of  its  original 
design,  and  at  the  same  time  bears  witness,  by  the  very  prin 
ciples  of  its  limitation,  as  these  may  be  in  succession  ascer 
tained,  to  the  superior  and  still  more  enduring  agency  and 
efficacy  of  the  spiritual  and  divine  Word  which  is  the  one 
living  Source  of  its  manifold  lively  streams.  This  aspect  of 
the  subject  appears  to  have  been  overlooked  by  the  translators 
of  the  ordinary  version  of  the  Bible  in  their  rendering  of  the 
above-cited  text  from  the  Second  Epistle  of  PETER.  The  apos 
tle's  meaning  appears  to  have  been  too  large  for  them  to  re- 


PROPHECY  AND   INTERPRETATION.  63 

ceive  in  its  original  simplicity  of  expression,  and  they  accord 
ingly  appear,  in  attempting  to  transplant  the  form  of  his 
utterance  from  one  language  into  another,  to  have  disturbed 
its  symmetry  if  not  to  have  destroyed  its  vitality. 

The  comparison  of  genuine  Scriptures  with  each  other  is 
perhaps  the  readiest  and  most  convincing  mode  of  ascertain 
ing  the  limits  of  their  value.  Such  comparison  seems  espe 
cially  necessary  by  way  of  tracing  discrepancies  of  utterance 
to  crudities  of  experience  and  doctrine,  precision  in  thought 
being  presumably  antecedent  to  precision  in  expression,  even 
under  the  guidance  of  inspiration.  A  notable  instance  of 
such  discrepancy  occurs  in  the  Mosaic  narrative  of  GOD'S 
strivings  with  the  chosen  people  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Levitical  Law,  as  compared  with  many  other  passages  in  the 
sacred  writings.  We  there  find  the  account  of  what  was,  in 
the  inspired  writer's  apprehension,  a  distinct*  change  of  pur 
pose  in  the  divine  counsels,  such  as  is  elsewhere,  with  equal 
distinctness,  declared  to  be  an  impossibility.  The  great 
leader,  legislator  and  historian,  appears  upon  that  occasion 
to  have  been  hampered  in  his  view  of  the  divine  attributes 
and  purposes,  by  the  limits  of  his  personal  experience  as  an 
agent  in  what  may  be  called  the  merely  political  changes  of 
his  day.  "  What  will  the  Egyptians  say?"  is  the  query  which 
naturally  occurred  to  him,  as  an  instrument  who  was  at  the 
instant  but  partially  conscious  of  the  magnitude  of  his  own 
mission  as  it  has  since  been  revealed. 

It  is  doubtless  a  matter  of  importance  that  we  should  en 
deavor  to  attain  clear  ideas  of  the  extent  of  our  own  capacities 
and  opportunities  for  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  There  is 
doubtless  some  fact  of  experience  which  may  be  justly  styled 
the  limitation  of  prophecy,  since  man  is  evidently  not  om 
niscient.  But  we  have  scriptural  warrant  for  believing  that 
this  limitation  is  essentially  a  limitation  of  the  power  of  utter 
ance,  rather  than  of  the  capacity  of  receiving  and  of  the  power 
of  retaining.  It  may  indeed  be  doubted  whether  the  human 
*  NUMBERS,  ch.  xiv. 


64  PROPHECY  AND   INTERPRETATION. 

mind  is  capable  of  conceiving  any  question,  which  it  is  not, 
in  the  light  graciously  and  steadfastly  vouchsafed  from  heaven, 
capable  of  eventually  answering.  The  power  of  conception 
appears  to  be,  in  the  ideal  world,  as  well  as  in  that  which  we 
more  exclusively  style  the  actual,  the  same  with  the  power 
of  production.  The  scriptural  text  which  may  perhaps  most 
readily  occur  to  the  reader  as  seemingly  opposed  to  this  view, 
may  be  regarded  as  rather  contributing  evidence  in  support 
of  it.  "  The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  LORD  our  God ; 
but  those  things  which  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to 
our  children  for  ever,  that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of  this 
law."  The  recipients  of  a  twilight  revelation  were  here 
assured  of  the  permanency  of  their  hold  upon  the  knowledge 
then  granted,  in  spite  of  the  incompetency  of  its  embodying 
language  ;  while  the  suggestion  of  the  riches  of  truth  reserved 
for  a  more  perfect  administration  of  the  Divine  Power,  was 
so  vague  as  to  claim  little  more  than  a  negative  value.  Even 
then,  however,  the  spiritual  travailer  for  truth  could  doubt 
less  anticipate  the  substance  of  the  testimony  of  the  royal 
Psalmist,  "  Thou  satisfiest  the  desire  of  every  living  thing," 
and  could  thus  attain  within  the  restricted  compass  of  his 
own  thoughts,  to  that  completeness  and  clearness  of  system 
which  is  at  once  the  necessary  concomitant  of  an  intelligent 
consistency  in  action,  the  immediate  object  of  an  enlightened 
faith,  and  the  sure  ground  of  an  expanding  hope. 

May  we,  who  live  in  the  days  of  increased  and  increasing 
illumination,  not  forget  the  dignity  of  our  calling  as  intelli 
gent  beings,  nor  the  injunction  so  explicitly  addressed  to  us, 
that  "  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  !"  So 
only  may  we  hope  as  "  kings  and  priests"  unto  the  FATHER, 
to  obtain  grace  "from  Him  which  was,  and  which  is,  and 
which  is  to  come,"  to  interpret  the  words  of  the  Law,  and  to 
know  the  Word  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  glory  of  GOD,  and  to 
our  own  assured  peace. — REV.  i.  6,  7,  8. 


UNIVERSAL  SCRIPTURE. 


**  In  GOD  we  boast  all  the  day  long." — Ps.  xliv.  & 

IN  words  and  in  acts 

Of  human  consent, 
In  physical  facts, 

In  vigor  unpent, 

The  universe  flows, 

A  process  immense 
Of  earnest  repose 

And  gathered  expense ; 

While  guiding  its  course, 

Revealed  or  unknown, 
Its  mystical  Source, 

Sits  GOD  on  his  throne. 

His  heavenly  rule 

The  rainbow  implies, — 
The  chase  of  the  fool, 

The  boast  of  the  wise. 

Thus  perfectly  shown, 

Though  late  understood, 
Be  joyfully  known 

The  Giver  of  Good ! 

For  ever  He  sends 

His  edicts  abroad, 
In  all  that  offends 

And  all  we  applaud. 

His  servants  review 

The  line  upon  line, 
Intent  to  construe 

The  writing  divine. 
<5  *  E  06 


THE  MORTALITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 


"  Whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away." — I  COR.  xiii.  8. 

THEOLOGIANS  have  evidently  missed  their  mark  in 
making  a  bugbear  of  the  doctrine  of  Foreknowledge. 
Knowledge,  being  finite  in  its  nature  and  particular  in  its  ap 
plication,  is  partial  and  contingent  and  therefore  self-limited 
both  in  its  value  and  duration.  Wisdom  is  infinite  and  gen 
eral,  universal  and  absolute,  self-developing  and  eternal. 
These  cannot  be  empty  or  idle  epithets,  except  to  those  to 
whom  spiritual  existence  is  emptiness,  because  of  their  making 
the  material  world  their  all  in  all.  Knowledge  is  indeed  the 
means  of  wisdom,  as  it  is  also  the  means  of  folly.  As  the 
staple  material  of  every  degree  of  intelligent  intercourse,  it 
maybe  called  communicable  wisdom,  or  the  "wisdom  of  this 
world  and  of  the  princes  of  this  world  which  cometh  to 
naught."  Knowledge,  even  when  occurring  in  the  form  of 
the  grandest  results  of  the  most  finished  culture,  is  essentially 
external,  and  therefore  transitory.  Wisdom  is  internal,  and 
therefore  eternal.  This  distinction  doubtless  furnishes  the 
basis  upon  which  we  must  discriminate  the  manifestations  of 
mind  from  those  of  soul.  How  startling,  how  terrible,  in 
deed,  is  it  to  the  man  of  culture  who  does  not  constantly  thus 
discriminate,  to  have  to  meet  the  announcement  that  know 
ledge  must  pass  away !  And  yet  how  is  the  mortal  despair 
which  may  lurk  in  the  reflection  that 

"  Thought  lies  deeper  than  all  speech," 
66 


THE  MORTALITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  67 

extinguished  in  the  "  hope  full  of  immortality,"  as  he  finds 
ability  to  add, 

"  Feeling,  deeper  than  all  thought !" 

The  brain  is  the  seat  of  thought :  the  soul  is  the  subject  of 
experience  and  of  independent  vitality.  The  phenomena  of 
consciousness  and  volition  are  most  intricate,  as  metaphysi 
cians  might  long  ago,  could  they  have  anticipated  the  modern 
triumphs  of  mechanical  invention,  have  a  priori  argued  that 
they  must  be.  That  they  may  be  counterfeited  to  an  indefi 
nite  extent  in  the  animal  creation  by  the  mere  force  of  habit 
or  instinct,  especially  in  the  more  educable  species,  and  pre 
eminently  in  the  human  animal,  cannot  long  seem  to  be  im 
possible  to  one  who  considers  that  the  contrivances  of  me 
chanics  are  human,  while  those  of  physiology  are  divine. 
We  even  profess  to  think  and  to  act,  often,  "  mechanically." 
Thus  it  is,  that  a  custom  or  a  notion  may  seem  to  be  most 
firmly  established  by  the  number  of  its  adherents,  when  it  is 
upon  the  very  brink  of  collapse  and  oblivion.  In  the  never- 
ending  miracle  of  conscious  individual  and  social  life,  ideas 
and  institutions  are  perishable  simply  because  the  spiritual 
nature  in  man  is  a  progressive  nature,  and  because  progress 
through  a  world  of  intermingled  good  and  evil  implies  a  re- 
linquishment,  sooner  or  later,  of  every  form  of  experience 
which  is  tainted  with  the  germs  of  corruption.  When  the 
laws  of  the  external  life  are  harmonized  with  themselves  and 
with  those  of  the  internal  life,  either  in  individuals  or  in  so 
ciety,  progress  will  indeed  no  longer  imply  relinquish ment, 
but  will  be  an  unwasting  development.  But  until  that  won 
drous  goal  shall  be  gained,  sacrifice  must  be  the  condition  of 
support,  or  formal  death  of  essential  life,  even  in  the  realm  of 
thought  and  knowledge.  GOD  speed  thee,  then,  honest  re 
former,  of  whatever  profession,  or  of  no  profession,  if  thy 
modesty  allow  thee  none  !  Go  on  "turning  the  world  upside 
down,"  so  far  as  in  thee  lies  !  The  truly  righteous  man,  who 


68  THE  MORTALITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

is  "  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,"  will  not  fear  that  his 
foundation  shall  be  destroyed  by  thee.  Foreknowledge,  if  it 
be  anything,  is  but  a  form  of  knowledge  to  him.  He  not 
only  knows,  but  he  feels,  that  by  the  goodness  of  GOD,  his 
temporal  and  eternal  security  is  made  contingent  upon  nothing 
but  the  just  submission  of  his  own  will.  His  trust,  and  his 
glory,  are  not  in  institutions  or  in  doctrines,  but  in  GOD  on 
high. 


THE  OFFENCE  OF  THE  CROSS. 


"  HE  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness  ;  and  when  we  shall  see  Him,  there  is 
no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  Him." — ISA.  liii.  2. 

"We  preach  CHRIST  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  unto 
the  Greeks  foolishness." — I  COR.  i.  23. 

"  CHRIST  hath  once  suffered  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might 
bring  us  to  GOD,  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the 
SPIRIT."— i  PET.  iii.  18. 

r  I  ^HE  call  to  perfection  as  sounded  by  the  Divine  Man  in 
JL  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  evidently  enjoins  something 
more  than  the  freedom  from  actual  sin.  His  words  were, 
not,  Be  perfect  as  I  am  perfect,  but,  uBe  ye  perfect  even  as 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."*  This  language 
must  be  accepted  as  not  only  condemning  all  voluntary  trans 
gression,  but  as  commanding  an  actual  progression  in  the  full 
but  measurable  manifestation  of  the  divine  life  consequent 
upon  obedience.  As  a  man,  the  limitations  of  Him  who 
"  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin,"f 
were  doubtless  in  some  way  more  stringent  than  those  of  the 
subsequent  generations  of  the  race.  Although  "  GOD  gave 
not  the  Spirit  by  measure  unto  Him,"  f  He  testified  that  his 
followers  should  kt  do  greater  works"  than  his,  because  of  his 
going  "  to  the  FATHER. "§  As  his  own  perfection  in  its  posi 
tive  aspect  consisted  in  a  progressive  development  of  the 
Divine  Life,  so  must  the  perfection  of  his  faithful  followers 
include  an  ever  progressive  triumph  over  inherited  or  ac 
quired  infirmities.  As  such  triumph  can  ensue  only  upon  a 
*  MATT.  v.  48.  t  HER.  iv.  15.  \  JOHN  iii.  34.  §  JOHN  xiv.  12, 


70         THE  OFFENCE  OF  THE  CROSS. 

thorough  spiritual  conversion,  the  attainability  of  such  con 
version  becomes  plainly  a  most  important  doctrine. 

Accordingly  we  find  ourselves  exhorted  by  the  early  apos 
tles  of  Christianity,  not  so  much  to  imitate  the  works  of  the 
Saviour,  as  to  seek  the  aid  of  his  Spirit  in  the  determination 
and  performance  of  our  own.  The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are 
carefully  commended  to  our  cultivation,  and  primarily  among 
them  that  of  patience  or  "  long-suffering,"  as  a  necessary 
pioneer  of  Christian  experience.  Says  one,  "  We  glory  in 
tribulation  also,  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh  patience ; 
and  patience,  experience;  and  experience,  hope."*  And 
another,  u  The  trying  of  your  faith  worketh  patience  ;  but  let 
patience  have  her  perfect  work,  that  ye  may  be  perfect  and 
entire,  wanting  nothing." f  As  we  read  that  it  became  the 
FATHER,  "for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all 
things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  Cap 
tain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings,"  %  so  for 
confirmation  of  our  patience  we  are  directed  "to  JESUS,  who 
for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despis 
ing  the  shame. "§  Says  yet  another,  "For  even  hereunto 
were  ye  called,  because  CHRIST  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us 
an  example  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps."  || 

As  the  work  of  spiritual  progress  can  only  be  manifested 
in  a  progressive  emancipation  of  human  life  from  that  bond 
age  to  the  corruptible  forms  of  outward  experience  which  is 
the  only  possible  worldly  manifestation  of  spiritual  stagna 
tion,  the  contest  between  formality  and  spirituality  may  be 
said  to  be  not  only  the  engrossing  engagement  of  the  repent 
ant  sinner,  but  also  the  incessant  labor  of  the  militant  Church, 
even  within  its  own  limits.  It  is  conceivable,  it  is  indeed  in 
evitably  consequent  upon  the  doctrine  of  perfectibility,  that 
spiritual  and  formal  progress  may  not  necessarily  involve  a 
lifelong  conflict  with  "the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil"  on 
the  part  of  individuals  ;  but  as  a  whole,  the  Church  on  the 

*  ROM.  v.  3.  t  JAMES  i.  4.  J  HEB.  ii.  10. 

§  HEB  xii.  2.  ||  i  PET.  ii.  21. 


THE   OFFENCE    OF   THE    CROSS.  71 

Earth  is  doubtless  ever  a  Church  Militant,  and  must  expect  to 
encounter  opposition  in  its  work  of  "  forgetting  those  things 
which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 
are  before,"  and  so  pressing  toward  the  mark  for  "  the  prize 
of  the  high  calling  of  GOD  in  CHRIST  JESUS."*  "As  then  he 
that  was  born  after  the  flesh  persecuted  him  that  was  born 

after  the  Spirit,  even  so  it  is  now If  I  yet  preach 

circumcision  why  do  I  yet  suffer  persecution?  Then  is  the 
offence  of  the  cross  ceased. "f  Progress,  individual  or  col 
lective,  is  manifested  in  the  refinement  of  the  outward  forms 
of  action  and  experience ;  but  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
Cross  is  the  only  refining  and  truly  vitalizing  agency.  That 
it  is  an  offensive  agency  is  indeed  implied  in  its  very  name  ; 
but  that  it  is  eventually  a  harmonizing  and  progressive 
agency  is  implied  in  the  doctrine  of  a  Divine  Resurrection. 
Successive  forms  of  traditional  propriety  may  and  do  from 
age  to  age  share  the  fate  of  the  obsolete  observances  of  the 
Jewish  ritual,  supplying  thus  the  ground  of  conflict  and  the 
occasion  of  triumph  to  successive  generations  of  spiritual 
warriors ;  and  the  all-important  strife  must  continue  to  rage 
and  to  advance  until  the  prophesied  day  of  consummation, 
of  which  "  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  which  are  in  heaven, 
neither  the  SON,  but  the  FATHER  knoweth."  J  Until  that  eter 
nal  Sabbath  shall  dawn  upon  the  Church,  it  must  contain 
struggling  members,  who  will  find  a  labor  of  suffering,  en 
grafted  upon  their  zeal  for  the  truth  by  their  love  for  the 
brethren,  and  therefore  seemingly  undergone  on  their  behalf, 
to  be  the  constant  condition  of  all  their  rejoicing.  Surely, 
they  may  be  well  content  to  "  fill  up  that  which  is  left  be 
hind  of  the  afflictions  of  CHRIST  in  their  flesh  for  his  body's 
sake,  which  is  the  Church,"  §  being  emboldened  by  faith  in 
the  insurrectional  power  of  a  spiritual  crucifixion,  to  defy  the 
imitative  transformations  of  the  subtle  Power  of  Evil,  although 
standing  "in  jeopardy  every  hour,"||  until  the  complete  re- 

*  PHIL.  iii.  13,  14.      t  GAL.  iv.  29  ;  v.  1 1.      J  MARK  xiii.  32  ;  MATT.  xxiv.  36. 
§  COL.  i.  24.  ||  i  COR.  xv.  30. 


72  THE   OFFENCE    OF   THE    CROSS. 

covery  from  their  natural  infirmity  or  accruing  depravity  shall 
turn  all  their  sorrow  into  joy. 

"Whoso  is  wise  and  will  observe  these  things,  even  he 
shall  understand  the  loving-kindness  of  the  LORD."  *  By  thus 
securing  an  interest  in  the  "one  offering"  whereby  the  con 
tinual  High  Priest  "  hath  perfected  for  ever  all  them  that  are 
sanctified,"  will  the  Christian  warrior  of  whatever  degree 
ever  be  able  to  conclude  his  remonstrances  with  vacillating 
brethren,  with  the  confession  and  admonition  of  the  catholic 
apostle  in  his  epistle  to  the  "foolish  Galatians :" — "  But  GOD 
forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  LORD  JESUS 
CHRIST,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto 
the  world.  For  in  JESUS  CHRIST  neither  circumcision  availeth 
anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature.  And  as 
many  as  walk  according  to  this  rule,  peace  be  on  them  and 
mercy,  and  upon  the  Israel  of  GOD.  From  henceforth  let  no 
man  trouble  me  ;  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the 
LORD  JESUS.  Brethren,  the  grace  of  our  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST 
be  with  your  spirit.  Amen." 

*  Ps.  cvii.  43. 


VANITY   OF  VANITIES. 


"  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."—!  COK. 
xv.  19. 

THE  force  of  attraction  is  doubly  displayed: 

Between  subject  and  object  it  acts,— 
The  clasp  of  a  fitness  transcendently  made 

By  the  GOD,  or  the  will,  which  attracts. 

All  knowledge  implies  but  a  fitness,  as  shown 

By  attraction,  when  conscious  as  love, 
While  subject  and  object  in  concert  are  known, 

Through  an  impulse  derived  from  above. 

One  world  we  discover  within  us,  as  one 

Correspondent  is  opened  without : 
By  various  progress  their  circle  is  run, 

As  we  move  in  assurance  or  doubt. 

Meanwhile,  whether  faithful  or  doubting,  we  find. 

By  the  inward  the  outward  controlled, 
And  matter  submissively  carried  by  mind, 

As  by  solvents,  the  solids  they  hold. 

In  running  the  round,  if  that  inner  world  share 

With  predominance  due  our  esteem, 
Its  certain  completion  in  joy  or  despair 

Will  no  meaningless  mystery  seem. 

Not  matters  without  us,  nor  motives  within, 

Can  be  heralds  of  GOD,  to  the  thought 
Whose  course  is  involved  in  the  darkness  and  din 

Which  prevail  when  mere  objects  are  sought 

And  joyless  indeed  were  the  Christian's  career, 

Could  the  bawbles  which  dazzle  the  sense 
Of  idler  and  worldling,  supplant  the  pure  cheer 

Which  enlivens  his  labor  intense. 
7  7* 


MERIT. 


"  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection,  but  thy  commandment  is  exceeding 
broad." — Ps.  cxix.  96. 

IT  has  been  remarked  by  a  celebrated  author,  as  a  charac 
teristic  of  the  unsophisticated  vigor  of  the  earnestly  in 
quiring  mind,  that  "things  take  the  signature  of  thought."* 
The  longer  we  live,  if  we  live  deliberately  and  independently, 
the  more  fully  do  we  realize  the  fact  that  external  nature  is 
but  a  mirror  upon  which  are  shadowed  in  demonstrable  out 
lines  of  beauty  or  deformity,  the  principles  of  our  interior  ex 
perience.  To  assert  this,  even  in  anticipation  of  the  realiza 
tion,  would  be  but  to  extend  to  our  human  nature,  the 
observation  which  we  all  find  to  be  true  in  subordinate 
spheres  of  knowledge,  that  force  is  ever  interior  to  form. 
In  both  cases  is  the  force,  or  life,  concealed  by  the  form,  or 
body,  and  yet  revealed  by  it.  Indeed  it  may  be  said  to  be 
concealed  by  it  in  order  that  it  may  be  revealed  by  it,  as  the 
ordained  channel  for  the  communication  of  intelligence.  It 
is  thus  that  the  material  world  may  be  said  to  confess  itself 
the  servant  of  the  spiritual,  ever  closely  following  and  legibly 
registering  its  progress  in  the  harmony  and  power  of  truth. 

Never,  indeed,  without  conflict,  is  the  supremacy  of  the 
ideal  over  the  actual  experimentally  maintained.  The  spir 
itual  domain  of  emotions  and  motives  must  witness  a  triumph 
within  itself  over  the  intrusive  suggestions  of  sloth  and  dis 
cord,  before  it  can  manifest  itself  in  efficient  and  harmonious 
action.  Only  by  perseverance  in  the  uncompromising  war- 

*  COLERIDGE. 
74 


MERIT.  75 

fare  which  the  SON  of  GOD,  and  Saviour  of  men,  descended 
from  Heaven  to  institute,  and  lives  in  Heaven  to  direct,  are  the 
eternal  freshness  and  power  of  truth  to  be  realized  in  inward 
and  outward  fruits  of  happiness  and  peace  and  glory.  The 
life  of  the  faithful  Christian,  and  it  alone,  is  endowed  with 
the  subtle  graces  and  genuine  activity  of  perennial  youth* 

Youth  itself,  however,  may  be  said  to  be  a  form,  as  well  as 
a  force.  As  a  phenomenon  of  time  and  space,  it  bears  pre 
cedence  among  the  controlling  conditions  of  every  individual 
existence.  Through  the  neglect  of  its  spiritual  potentialities 
it  may  become  a  decaying  and  corrupt  form  ;  but  as  it  is  ani 
mated  by  the  love  of  truth  and  duty,  it  is  found  to  be  at  once 
firmly  conservative  and  irresistibly  progressive.  By  the  ex 
ercise  of  the  Divine  charity  which  believes,  hopes,  and  en 
dures  all  things,  while  it  may  seemingly  ignore  the  existence 
of  essential  evil,  it  grasps  and  wields  the  only  weapons  which 
can  oppose  and  overcome  it.  Steadfastly  ceasing  to  do  evil 
in  its  own  preconceived  forms  of  work,  it  as  steadfastly  learns 
to  do  well  in  the  life  of  faith  ;  and  its  path  is  u  as  a  shining 
light,  shining  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  The 
perfection  of  yesterday  may  become  the  imperfection  of  to 
day ;  but  the  u  exceeding  broad  commandment"  remains  to 
conduct  it  onward  to  the  perfect  manhood  of  u  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  CHRIST." 

It  is  perhaps  one  of  the  least  imperfect  or  improper,  and 
therefore  one  of  the  most  persistent  and  most  useful  illusions 
of  the  youthful  pilgrim,  to  place  more  or  less  confidence  in 
the  fallible  authority  of  his  fellow-man.  The  prescription  of 
tradition,  and  the  prestige  of  service,  seem  to  him  to  invest 
merely  occasional  rules  and  merely  mortal  examples,  with 
the  sanction  of  universal  and  enduring  applicability.  By 
them  he  is  willing  to  be  guided,  and  to  them  he  would  fain 
appeal  u  that  his  deeds  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are 
wrought  in  GOD."  For  only  as  the  education  of  nature  is  en 
tirely  subordinated  to  that  of  grace,  is  the  promised  sonship 
attained,  whose  happiness  it  is  to  distinguish  the  one  imme- 


76  MERIT. 

diate,  undeceitful  and  Divine  Light,  from  all  transmitted  or 
reflected  radiance.  But  so  far  as  the  standard  and  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  Christian  neophyte  may  be  thus  in  the  keeping  of 
his  fellow-man,  he  cannot  "  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own 
mind,"  and  his  store  of  rejoicing  must  be  accordingly  not  in 
himself,  but  "  in  another."  The  depth  and  fullness  of  the 
promise,  "  when  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me,  then 
the  LORD  will  take  me  up,"  must  remain  to  be  realized  by 
him.  One  by  one  his  mortal  authorities  must  fail  to  fulfil  his 
purest  expectations,  as  they  more  or  less  gradually  expose 
their  own  natural  limitations ;  while  still  others  will  be  at 
hand  to  attract  the  allegiance  of  his  imperfect  faith,  until  the 
revelation  of  righteousness  in  the  gospel  "from  faith  to  faith" 
shall  finally  emancipate  him  from  all  dependence  upon  mor 
tal  priesthoods.  Then  will  he  first  fully  realize  with  regard 
to  his  fellows,  that  which  he  may  perhaps  long  before  have 
discovered  with  regard  to  himself,  that  whatever  merit  there 
may  be  in  human  works,  there  is  none  in  the  human  worker ; 
but  in  Him  who  shall  have  wrought  all  their  works  in  them. 
ISA.  xxvi.  12. 


THE  SUBORDINATION  OF  LAW. 


"EVERY  man  in  his  own  order." — i  COR.  xv.  23. 

IT  being  the  object  of  Law  to  define  duty  rather  than  privi 
lege, — the  right  of  work  rather  than  the  right  of  enjoy 
ment, —  they  who  seek  through  it  for  privilege  or  enjoyment 
are  apt  to  find  themselves  grievously  disappointed.  It  is  only 
secondarily,  or  by  being  primarily  the  surety  of  work,  that  Law 
is  ever  the  surety  of  enjoyment.  The  law  of  labor  can  never 
theless  become  the  law  of  happiness  to  those  who  order  their 
desires  in  accordance  with  the  terse  and  trite  proverb,  "  Busi 
ness  first,  and  pleasure  afterward."  "Blessed,"  exclaims  an 
indefatigable  though  variously  appreciated  teacher,*  "  is  the 
man  who  has  found  his  work  !"  The  intelligent  and  faithful 
workman  is  indeed  a  freeman,  and  a  sovereign  in  his  sphere. 
As  there  are,  however,  different  spheres  of  labor,  so  there 
are  different  spheres  of  Law  ;  the  superior  in  either  case,  by 
virtue  of  the  unity  and  consistency  of  all  truth,  comprehend 
ing  the  inferior  to  the  extent  in  which  they  maybe  associated. 
The  law  of  the  subject  is  thus  identical,  so  far  as  it  may  reach 
with  that  of  the  ruler,  and  can  only  gain  in  efficiency  and 
interest  by  approximating  to  it.  The  suggestions  of  a  true 
superior  to  a  faithful  inferior  can  therefore  never  be  intrusive 
or  annoying  ;  but  being  a  part  of  the  communion  of  love,  they 
will,  like  every  other  form  of  genuine  charity,  be  elevating 
and  enlarging  to  both  u  him  who  gives  and  him  who  takes." 
The  same  power  of  love,  which  can  alone,  as  the  law  of 
labor,  perfectly  "  cast  out  fear"  in  ourselves,  may  also,  as  the 
law  of  happiness,  exclude  hostility  in  others,  and  thus  become 

*  THOMAS  CARLYLE. 

7*  77 


78  THE   SUBORDINATION  OF  LAW. 

both  privately  and  publicly  the  law  of  prosperity  and  of  peace. 
Subordination  is  thus  simply  one  of  the  elements  of  harmony. 
Step  by  step  must  the  naturally  dependent  and  short-sighted 
worker  rise  to  the  discovery  that  "  he  that  dwelleth  in  love 
dwelleth  in  GOD,  and  GOD  in  him,"  realizing  therein  only  the 
fulfilment  of  the  divine  injunction,  "Whosoever  will  be  chief 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant." 


AUTHORITY. 


"  In  that  day  shall  there  be  one  LORD,  and  his  name  One." — ZECH.  xiv.  9. 

THOU  wouldst  not  lose  thy  dignity  ! — Well  said. 

If  so  thou  meanest  humbly  to  confess 
Thy  own  subjection  to  the  mighty  Head, 

Whose  will  each  member  must  in  acts  express. 

But  art  thou  yet  indeed  his  member  ?     Hast 
Thou  naught  of  joy  in  any  life,  except 

In  that  clear  stream  with  which  his  Oneness  vast 
From  kindred  veins  each  selfish  taint  hath  swept? 

Authority,  where  decently  maintained, 
Must  flow  in  living  order.     Stagnate  not 

By  resting  in  the  posture  thou  hast  gained, 
Dreaming  thyself  creation's  central  spot. 

Forsake  thyself :  reject  the  bonds  of  sense  : 
O'er  time  and  space,  seek  with  thy  spirit's  eye 

An  Essence  vaster  than  their  vague  immense, 
And  find  within  thyself  the  Eternal  Why  ! 

Within  thee,  though  not  of  thee,  GOD  shall  then 
Extend  his  throne,  and  share  with  thee  his  rule 

O'er  all  his  works,  and  o'er  unholy  men, 

To  curb  the  headstrong,  and  reprove  the  fool. 

Subordination  then  will  be  thy  aim, 

First  for  thyself,  and  then  for  those  around, 

That  each  thereby  may  press  his  humble  claim 
For  strength  and  joy,  where  both  are  fully  found 

All  nature,  then,  true  to  the  primal  law 

Of  order,  shall  show  forth  its  Sovereign's  will, 

While  gently  tempering  his  o'erpowering  awe 
Through  his  vicegerents  widely  working  still. 

79 


ABSTRACTIONS   versus   DELUSIONS. 


"  For  the  time  will  come  when  they  will  not  endure  sound  doctrine." — 
2  TIM.  iv.  3,  4. 

r  I  "'HERE  is  what  may  be  called  a  divine  music  in  a  well- 
jL  ordered  life.  The  genuine  intelligence  and  ample  com 
prehension  which  belong  to  the  divine  nature  in  the  renewed 
man,  express  themselves  necessarily  and  yet  freely,  to  those 
who  have  "  ears  to  hear,"  in  the  language  of  an  unbroken 
harmony.  All  things  being  u  done  decently  and  in  order" 
no  true  interest  is  neglected,  and  none  is  pursued  in  an  im 
proper  time,  place,  or  mode.  Such  a  life  will  be  likely  to 
appear  monotonous  if  not  unmeaning  to  observers  whose 
habits  of  thought  are  dislocated  from  its  happy  integrity  by 
an  undue  devotion  to  any  of  the  subordinate  interests  which 
enter  into  the  composition  of  its  one  leading  interest,  because 
to  such  the  main  objects  of  their  life  will  seem  to  be  recog 
nized  only  to  be  set  at  naught.  They  will  see  that  everything 
which  is  necessary  for  the  existence  of  their  idols  is  preserved, 
while  the  idols  themselves  will  appear  to  be  overlooked  from 
the  mere  fact  of  their  being  in  turn  subordinated  to  the  preser 
vation  of  the  still  larger  interest  or  interests,  which  ever  lie  be 
yond  the  reach  of  an  imperfect  faith.  Truth,  which  is  the  great 
est  reality,  is  also  the  greatest  abstraction  ;  and  there  is  always 
a  point  at  which  the  pursuit  of  it  for  its  own  sake,  must  appear 
but  as  weariness  and  foolishness  to  all  whose  vision  is  either 
lost  in  the  mists  of  a  groveling  sensuality,  or  diverted  from 
the  Central  Luminary  by  the  gilded  clouds  of  a  more  refined 
and  aspiring  selfishness.  While  this  is  their  condition,  how 
80 


ABSTRACTIONS    VS.   DELUSIONS.  8 1 

can  they  do  otherwise  than  "despise  the  voice  of  the  charmer, 
charming  never  so  wisely?" 

Every  definable  rule  of  life  may  be  called  an  abstraction, 
and  must  become  a  delusive  one  as  it  is  made  to  usurp  the 
place  of  the  indefinable  and  only  universal  rule  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  of  life  and  truth.  This  only  can  enable  us  in  all  cases 
to  observe  the  Divine  precept,  "Judge  not  according  to  the 
appearance,  but  judge  righteous  judgment."  Every  motive 
which  may  seem  to  ourselves  to  begin  or  end  in  any  definite 
object  of  created  good,  is  but  "vanity"  and  must  land  us  in 
"vexation  of  spirit."  The  only  remunerative  service  is  the 
service  of  the  bountiful  Creator,  and  this  is  at  all  times  incom 
patible  with  a  primary  pursuit  of  worldly  attainment.  "Ye 
cannot  serve  GOD  and  Mammon."  Money,  which  is  the 
most  universally  recognized  representative  of  worldly  good, 
thus  becomes  the  most  delusive  of  abstractions,  as  it  is  men 
tally  abstracted  or  detached  from  its  place  in  the  divine  order 
of  truth,  and  elevated  from  the  rank  of  a  means  to  that  of  an 
end.  Here,  at  least,  experience  is  found  to  agree  with  theory. 
The  late  STEPHEN  GIRARD,  whose  success  in  accumulating 
money  was  of  course  no  proof  that  he  was  at  heart  a  wor 
shiper  of  Mammon,  however  his  mind  may  have  lacked  the 
development  which  a  timely  discipline  of  nobler  rules  might 
have  ensured,  avowed  at  the  very  zenith  of  his  seeming  pros 
perity,  that  his  main  object  in  life  was  to  work  hard  enough 
in  the  day-time  to  be  able  to  sleep  soundly  at  night.  Accord 
ing  as  his  success  was  a  substantial  or  an  empty  one,  how 
must  he  have  smiled,  either  in  pity  or  in  scorn,  upon  the  mul 
titudes  whom  he  beheld  around  him  eagerly  enlisted  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  glittering  abstraction  ! 

Position,  popularity,  reputation,  praise,  and  immortality, 
are  names  by  which  "the  world"  recognizes  different  degrees 
of  its  other  favorite  abstraction.  These  also,  so  far  as  they  are 
realities,  are  but  variously  imposing  and  fleeting  forms  of  the 
Power  which  consists  solely  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the 
truth.  As  they  are  attained  in  the  spirit  of  insubordination  to 

F 


82  ABSTRACTIONS    VS.   DELUSIONS. 

the  truth,  they  too  must  prove  to  be  but  delusive  phantoms, 
and  the  unhappy  aspirant  will  ever  be  constrained  mentally 
to  repeat  the  melancholy  demand,  u  Is  this  all?" 

"The  concrete"  is  in  some  sense  the  opposite  of  "the 
abstract."  By  the  one  epithet  we  mean  an  embodied  or  com 
municable  good  or  evil ;  and  by  the  other,  a  disembodied  or 
incommunicable.  The  rule  of  self-denying  love,  which  is  the 
law  of  liberty,  is  also  that  of  all  true  realization  and  commu 
nication.  By  it  only,  as  revealed  through  faith  in  the  Divine 
SON  by  the  HOLY  SPIRIT  can  we  realize  the  strength  which 
is  to  be  found  in  union  with  one  another,  and  in  communion 
with  the  FATHER  of  spirits.  The  only  way  to  avoid  the  delu 
sions  and  disappointments  of  the  scattering  voices  of  "  Lo  ! 
here,"  and  "  Lo  !  there,"  is  thus  to  seek  the  kingdom  which 
is  only  to  be  found  within  us.  This  pursuit  will  involve  a 
willing  abstraction  from  all  dependence  upon  sensual  and 
artificial  aids,  but  it  will  be  a  triumphant  abstraction,  whose 
victory  will  be  qualified  by  no  mixture  of  unhappy  disap 
pointment.  "The  concrete"  may  indeed  be  said  to  mean 
the  whole  of  life,  but  the  promise  of  the  blessed  Saviour  re 
mains  in  force,  "  He  that  loses  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the 
gospel's  shall  find  it." 

Only  as  we  begin  our  pilgrim  course  with  this  holy  ab 
straction,  can  we  hope  to  avoid  by  the  way  those  which  are 
unholy  and  delusive,  and  to  close  our  struggles  with  the  ex 
ulting  exclamation,  "  the  half  has  not  been  told."  Only  as 
we  thus  bring  all  our  crowns  to  the  foot  of  the  cross  of 
CHRIST  the  Saviour,  can  we  hope  to  join  the  throng  of  those 
who  even  now  come  "  from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  " 
to  behold  the  glory  of  Him  who  is  "greater  than  SOLOMON!" 


HIDDEN    LIFE. 


"  THE  grave  cannot  praise  Thee,  death  cannot  celebrate  Thee  :  they  that 
go  down  into  the  pit  cannot  hope  for  thy  truth. 

"The  living,  the  living,  he  shall  praise  Thee,  as  I  do  this  day:  the  father 
to  the  son  shall  make  known  thy  truth." — ISA.  xxxviii.  18,  19. 

FAITH  in  doctrine,*  hope  for  truth,!  and  love  to  GOD,} 
may  be  styled  the  successive  stages  of  a  religious  life. 
Each  of  these  stages,  after  the  first,  being  essentially  a  con 
firmation  and  extension  rather  than  an  abandonment  of  that 
which  has  preceded  it,  the  aspiration  of  such  a  life  is  for 
growth  or  development,  rather  than  for  any  externally  pre 
scribed  attainment,  which  might  be  at  the  best  but  a  rambling 
appearance  of  gain.  Owing  to  the  variety  of  present  circum 
stances  and  previous  opportunities  in  different  individuals, 
the  manifestations  of  these  different  stages  maybe  often  alike, 
or  indistinguishable  from  each  other  by  any  prescribed  rule, 
so  that  no  definite  standard  of  spiritual  vitality  can  be  safely 
assumed.  The  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit"  must  indeed  be  sooner 
or  later  recognizable,  either  in  their  increase  or  in  their 
decrease,  to  the  spiritually  minded  observer,  whose  eye  is 
single  and  whose  "whole  body"  is  accordingly  "full  of 
light ;"  so  that  such  an  one  may  be  divinely  enabled  to  see 
the  direction  in  which  the  feet  of  his  fellow-man  are  moving: 

*  "  Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  GOD." — ROM. 
x.  17. 

t  "  We  are  saved  by  hope :  but  hope  that  is  seen  is  not  hope." — ROM. 
viii.  24. 

J  "  GOD  is  love :  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dvvelleth  in  GOD,  and  GOD 
in  him." — I  JOHN  iv.  16. 

83 


84  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

yet  even  such  an  one  is  for  the  most  part  happily  exempted 
from  the  necessity  of  deciding  how  nearly  the  steps  of  a  com 
panion  have  reached,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  goal  of  perfect 
devotion,  or  on  the  other  to  the  limit  of  the  Divine  toleration 
and  mercy,  and  of  distinguishing  the  precise  period  at  which 
his  face  may  begin  to  turn  from  the  course  which  he  has  been 
pursuing.  We  may  even  be  "  living  in  pleasures,"  and  there 
fore  "  dead  while  we  live,"  and  the  dreadful  reality  may,  in 
very  mercy,  be  indiscernible  to  those  who  love  and  care  for 
us,  that  our  religion  is  an  empty  form,  our  faith  that  of  the 
devils  who  u  believe  and  tremble,"  and  our  whole  life  a  state 
of  spiritual  bondage,  under  whatever  disguise  of  seeming 
freedom  and  happiness. 

The  grave  is  the  hopeless  home  of  corruption  to  all  who  do 
not  spiritually  descend  into  its  inevitable  gulf  by  faith  in  Him 
who  overcame  death.  So  far  as  any  have  experienced  the 
power  and  submitted  to  the  dominion  of  sin,  they  must  be  made 
"  dead  with  CHRIST,"  before  they  can  also  live  with  Him. 
The  outward  interment  and  decay  of  our  corruptible  bodies 
is  not  more  fitly  symbolical  of  the  spiritual  condition  of  those 
who  reject  the  terms  of  heavenly  grace,  than  the  temporary 
repose  of  the  mortal  part  of  the  holy  Captain  of  salvation  in 
its  rock-hewn  sepulchre  may  symbolize  the  temporary  or  ap 
parent  withdrawal  from  wonted  scenes  of  action,  of  lives 
which  are  undergoing  the  all-important  conversion  from  the 
state  of  nature  to  the  state  of  grace.  The  strength  of  these 
may  be  as  completely  veiled  from  the  view  of  their  fellow- 
mortals,  as  is  the  weakness  of  their  benighted  contemporaries  ; 
and  they  may  appear  by  comparison  as  ghastly  spectres,  walk 
ing  the  Earth  but  to  destroy  the  pleasant  pictures  of  GOD'S 
creation.  Already,  nevertheless,  such  are  practical  preachers 
of  the  "baptism  of  repentance,"  and  heralds,  to  those  who 
have  hearts  to  understand,  of  the  solemn  decree,  that  the 
"fashion  of  this  world"  shall  pass  away.  As  they  keep  the 
word  of  Divine  patience,  the  promised  day  of  redemption 
from  the  power  of  temptation  will  follow.  Their  Saviouf 


aiDDS* 

will  "  come  quickly,"  and  the  crown  wh i crr^mT^ Hlan  shall 
take  away  will  be  their  reward.  Only  such  can  ever  be  en 
titled  and  prepared  to  respond  to  the  animating  summons, 
44 Arise,  shine:  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the 
LORD  is  risen  upon  thee.  For  behold,  the  darkness  shall 
cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people  :  but  the  LORD 
shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee."  * 
For  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  some  shall 
awake  "  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlast 
ing  contempt."  u  But  they  that  be  wise  shah  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turr  many  to  right 
eousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  f 

*  ISA.  lx.  i,  2.  1  DAN.  xiL  a,  j, 

8 


A  PARAPHRASE. 


Ps.  cxxx. 

OUT  of  the  depths  we  cry  to  Thee  ; 
Hear  Thou  our  voice  attentively  ! 
O  LORD  !  with  all  our  dreams  of  merit. 
What  wealth  can  willful  works  inherit? 

Forgiveness  is  the  boon  we  seek. 
Before  the  blessing  of  the  meek. 
Let  mercy's  gates  expand  before  us ; 
Then  as  we  run,  do  Thou  restore  us. 

Our  startling  fear,  our  steadfast  hope, 
What  scheming  with  thy  Word  can  cope? 
For  Thee  we  wait  and  thy  adorning, 
Like  watchers  wishing  for  the  morning. 

More  eagerly  than  these  we  pray, 

Spread  in  our  hearts  thine  endless  day, 

As,  through  the  scenes  of  thy  creation, 

Each  soul  evolves  its  own  salvation.  [Phil.  ii.  X2.] 

Thy  called  and  chosen  each  shall  be, 

Who  struggles  in  sincerity, 

To  conquer  every  inbred  giant 

Which  mocks  thy  rule  with  deeds  defiant. 

Like  ISRAEL,  then,  may  we  prevail, 
As  one  man,  o'er  our  common  ail ; 
And,  shielded  by  thy  Son's  exemption, 
Attain  thy  plenteous  redemption  ! 

Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done, 
While  thus  our  earthly  race  we  run : 
And  o'er  each  good  Thou  still  suppliest, 
Sing  we  thy  glory  in  the  highest  1 

4th  Mo.,  1863. 
86 


A  POSSIBLE    STEP  FORWARD. 


"  WHERE  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?" — 2  PET.  iii.  4. 

[NOTE. — It  may  be  due  to  the  reader  to  state  that  this  piece  was  designed 
as  a  substantial  reproduction  of  the  first  few  pages  of  that  on  CONVERSATION 
AND  EDUCATION,  which  shortly  follows.  It  was  written  wholly  at  the  sug 
gestion  of  a  valued  counselor,  who  thought  the  matter  might  be  thrown  into 
a  more  popular  form,  for  a  philanthropic  periodical  just  then,  as  it  turned 
out,  on  the  eve  of  discontinuance.] 

"  r  I  "*HE  desire  of  a  man  is  his  kindness,"  said  the  wise  king. 
JL  Necessary  as  it  is  to  preach  the  gospel  of  good  works 
by  way  of  shutting  out  bad  works  in  our  age  and  country  of 
physical  energy  and  material  abundance,  we  cannot  yet  afford 
to  lose  sight  of  the  principle  that  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  doer 
which  mainly  qualifies  the  deed.  The  great  circle  of  practi 
cal  truth  may  be  equally  broken,  and  the  work  of  practical 
religion  equally  interrupted,  by  a  misanthropic  listlessness, 
and  by  the  merely  formal  or  imitative  activity  which  may 
equally  coexist  with  an  actual  sluggishness  of  spirit. 

But  while  all  earnest  workers  must  be  at  times  painfully 
conscious  of  this  tendency  to  superficiality  and  consequent 
futility  in  our  best  life,  we  seem  to  have  been  as  yet  much  at 
a  loss  for  the  means  of  expressing  our  condition  and  of  so 
being  prepared  intelligently  and  unitedly  to  shun  its  dangers. 
It  is  naturally  difficult  for  any  of  us, — and  the  difficulty  may 
be  only  confirmed  by  association  with  those  of  like  antecedents 
and  surroundings  with  ourselves, — to  realize  that  the  most 
seemingly  definite  knowledge  is  modified  by  the  extent  and 


88  A   POSSIBLE   STEP  FORWARD. 

form  of  our  individual  capacity,  or  that  every  item  of  truth 
has  universal  relations  by  virtue  of  which  it  is  capable  of  ex 
panding  with  our  expanding  capacities.  Knowledge  is  a 
progressive,  because  a  relative,  thing.  While  Truth  is  im 
mortal,  "  Knowledge,"  we  are  divinely  assured,  u  shall  vanish 
away."  Knowledge  consists  in  the  conscious  adaptation  of 
our  present  selves  or  senses  to  our  present  circumstances,  or 
in  other  words,  in  the  relation  of  a  u subjective"  or  internal 
element  to  an  "  objective"  or  external  element,  and  is  neces 
sarily  as  transient  or  mutable  as  either  of  the  elements  upon 
which  it  depends.  In  these  qualities  of  all  merely  human 
knowledge,  we  may  trace  the  original  necessity  of  the  myste 
rious  bond  of  individual  faith  (Rom.  xiv.  22)  as  the  only  hope 
of  consistency,  and  the  reason  of  the  subsequent  supremacy 
of  the  rule  of  individual  experience.  Rom.  xiv.  5. 

The  distinction  between  subjective  and  objective  truth  be 
ing  a  primary  condition  of  all  human  consciousness,  is  there 
fore  also  a  primary  consideration  in  the  just  estimation  of 
human  motives.  These  terms  "objective"  and  "  subjective" 
have  been  too  long  the  exclusive  property  of  metaphysicians, 
and,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  metaphysicians  have 
to  some  extent  abused  their  monopoly.  They  have  too  much 
failed  to  teach  the  transitory  value  of  thought  as  an  object  of 
endowment,  and  the  still  more  transitory  value  of  language, 
as  a  still  more  superficial  object.  The  so-called  "  Philosophy 
of  Common  Sense"  of  REID  and  HAMILTON,  now  widely  pre 
vailing,  may  be  styled  a  systematic  repudiation  of  the  objec 
tivity  of  Thought.  Maintaining  that  external  things  are 
themselves  the  real  objects  of  original  Perception,  and  thus 
implying  that  we  see  everything  that  we  see  at  all  exactly  as 
it  is,  it  so  far  removes  all  inducement  to  correcting  our  per 
ceptions  and  extending  our  insight  by  the  processes  of  com 
parison  and  analysis.  We  need  not  inquire  whether  it  pro 
fesses  to  do  so,  since  error  is  ever  inconsistent.  By  failing 
justly  to  distinguish  between  thoughts  and  things  as  objects 
alike,  though  in  different  degrees  or  distances,  external  to  the 


A   POSSIBLE   STEP  FORWARD.  89 

thinker,  it  admits  if  it  does  not  advocate  a  repeal  of  every 
principle  of  progress.  Crescit  eundo,  "  it  grows  with  going," 
is  a  law  which  is  especially  applicable  to  the  march  of  mind, 
but  no  scope  is  allowed  for  its  operation  here.  Old  forms  of 
thought  perish  by  being  absorbed  and  transformed  into  larger 
and  fairer  ones,  which  they  could  not  be,  were  our  perceptions 
originally  of  things  as  they  truly  are. 

There  is  a  constant  revolution  in  the  progress  of  mind,  and  it 
may  be  that  that  revolution  and  progress  cannot  be  understood 
without  a  regard  to  the  principle  of  Polarity.  It  would  seem 
that  there  are  subjective  and  objective  poles  and  hemispheres 
of  experience  or  knowledge,  just  as  there  are  the  North  and 
South  poles  of  the  globe  we  outwardly  tread.  Scriptural 
testimony  is  not  wanting  as  to  the  fact  and  mode  of  the  con 
tinual  growth  of  mind.  It  must  clearly  be  by  reason  of  such 
growth  rather  than  of  any  selfish  or  studied  reserve,  that  the 
"  wise  man"  keeping  his  thought  "  till  afterward"  is  present 
ed  as  having  an  advantage  over  "the  fool"  who  "utters  all 
his  mind  ;"  and  this  because  his  sufficiency  is  not  of  himself, 
his  supplies  being  all  drawn  from  a  Source  which  is  confess 
edly  incomprehensible  to  himself.  In  the  more  explicit 
though  more  comprehensive  language  of  the  New  Testament, 
"  the  righteousness  of  GOD  is  revealed  from  faith  to  faith  ;" 
and  is  not  the  philosophy  of  polarity  poetically  recognized  in 
that  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth,  is  Mount  Zion  on  the  sides  of  the  North  ;"  and 
again,  "  Promotion  cometh  neither  from  the  East,  nor  from 
the  West,  nor  from  the  South"  ? 

Purity  and  peace  are  primary  characteristics  (JAMES  iii.  17) 
of  the  "Wisdom  which  is  from  above."  I  would  say  nothing 
to  degrade  them  either  as  subjects  or  as  objects  from  their 
scriptural  eminence  among  the  Christian  graces.  I  have  only 
to  urge  that  they  should  be  pursued  as  being  indeed  qualities 
of  the  Wisdom  which  is  from  above,  in  which  case  there  will 
be  no  danger  of  their  being  detached  from  other  virtues. 
W'ith  this  view  we  assuredly  need  to  study  the  laws  of 

8* 


90  A   POSSIBLE   STEP  FORWARD. 

thought  in  their  necessary  connection  with  the  laws  of  action 
as  important  means  of  preserving  us  from  superficial  activi 
ties,  or  so-called  hobby-riding.  Where  the  love  of  display, 
which  is  so  apt  to  attend  the  pursuit  of  any  definitely  pre 
scribed  effect,  to  any  extent  supplants  the  disinterested  guid 
ance  of  individual  faith,  spiritual  intelligence  must  be  propor 
tionally  dormant,  and  religion  at  best  retrograde  from  the 
freedom  of  the  gospel  to  the  bondage  of  the  law.  There 
must  sooner  or  later  be  a  subversion  of  the  true  motives  of 
thought  and  action,  the  unknown  being  subordinated  to  the 
known,  or  aspiration  to  attainment;  and  the  comparatively 
trifling  mysteries  of  the  latest  witchcraft  will  so  far  obscure 
and  obstruct  the  miraculous  growth  and  triumph  of  Christian 
truth.  One  of  the  broadest  injunctions  of  Holy  Writ  is  that 
of  him  who  may  be  called  the  analytical  apostle,  "  Let  all 
things  be  done  decently  and  in  order ;"  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  one  of  our  next  steps  forward  must  be  a  more  general 
recognition  of  the  just  subordination  of  the  Objective  to  the 
Subjective,  of  the  phenomenal  to  the  real,  of  the  past  to  the 
coming,  of  the  passing  to  the  lasting,  which  is  traceable 
through  all  degrees  of  progress  in  knowledge.  Let  us  re 
member  that  all  the  efforts  of  skepticism  have  failed  to  dis 
prove  that  there  is  a  real  and  lasting  Power  of  Evil,  to  which 
we  may  by  carelessness  in  any  direction  become  victims. 


INCIDENTAL  EDUCATION. 


"  I  WILL  bring  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they  knew  not."— ISA.  xlii.  16. 

EDUCATION,  like  every  other  special  business  or  expe 
rience,  may  be  either  direct  or  indirect.  As  the  influ 
ence  of  the  teacher  may  be  either  designed  or  undesigned  on 
his  part,  so  the  progress  of  the  learner  may  be  either  con 
scious  or  unconscious  on  his.  By  indirect  or  incidental  edu 
cation,  I  mean  the  progress  which  while  unconscious  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil,  is  not  undesigned  on  that  of  the  tutor.  By 
virtue  of  the  fact  of  his  having  been  before  over  the  ground 
which  they  are  traversing  together,  the  intelligent  tutor  is  able 
in  the  realm  of  his  own  consciousness  to  be  at  once  before 
and  behind  his  junior  companion,  while  seeming  perhaps  to 
be  only  at  his  side.  It  is  his  business  to  know  not  only  the 
work  which  is  to  be  done,  but  also  the  character  and  circum 
stance  of  the  worker,  in  some  respects  at  least,  better  than 
they  are  known  to  himself,  so  that  speaking  as  it  were  from 
behind  him,  or  from  the  direction  in  which  he  is  least 
known  to  himself,  he  may  be  able  to  check  every  deviation 
with  the  cry,  "  this  is  the  way,  walk  in  it." 

I  do  not  mean  to  claim  for  the  teacher  the  prerogative  of 
priesthood  beyond  the  necessity  of  his  calling ;  but  it  seems 
clear  to  me  that  to  a  certain  extent  he  must,  if  he  teach  any 
thing  thoroughly,  realize  and  illustrate  the  doctrine  that  faith 
must  precede  mental  and  spiritual  vision.  So  far  as  the 
pupil  may  need  to  be  supplied  through  human  channels 
with  the  inspiration  which  shall  impel  him  to  make  use  of 

91 


92  INCIDENTAL   EDUCATION. 

his  opportunities,  I  would  say  that  it  is  the  teacher's  business 
intelligibly  to  point  the  precept,  "Know  the  LORD."  This,  I 
conceive  he  will  surely  do  by  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  rule 
that  the  development  of  hidden  principles  is  incidental  to  the 
teaching  of  obvious  facts. 

The  direct  teaching  of  facts  or  objects  is  conscious  learning 
to  the  pupil,  because  it  consists  in  a  definite  addition  to  his 
fund  of  knowledge.  The  incidental  development  of  princi 
ples  is  indirect  teaching  and  unconscious  learning,  because  it 
seems  at  first  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  orderly  arrange 
ment  of  knowledge.  As  the  learner,  however,  becomes  famil 
iar  with  this  orderly  arrangement  of  knowledge,  the  princi 
ples  of  harmony  and  unity  on  which  it  depends  become 
recognized  by  him  as  being  themselves  the  most  substantial 
of  facts.  Although  at  a  previous  stage  of  his  progress  he 
might  have  spurned  their  announcement  as  the  preaching  of 
mere  abstractions  or  purely  subjective  notions,  he  now  values 
them  as  being  in  his  own  experience  the  most  permanent 
of  realities.  Thus  he  is  qualified  to  act  in  his  turn  the  part 
of  an  intelligent  truth-teacher  to  those  who  may  still  be  in 
bondage  to  the  beggarly  elements  of  a  comparatively  super 
ficial  life  and  knowledge. 

The  science  of  language,  being  a  metaphysical  science,  is 
of  course  one  in  which  we  cannot  look  for  such  an  early 
appreciation  of  principles  as  in  the  mathematical  and  more 
obviously  physical  departments  of  knowledge.  In  all  alike  a 
hint  may  be  taken  from  the  recipe  of  the  facetious  cuisinier, 
"first  catch  the  fish."  The  "raw  material"  is  of  course,  in 
all,  the  basis  not  only  of  observation,  but  of  communication. 
To  the  pupil,  at  least,  the  teacher  ought  always  to  be  wiser 
than  hir»  books, — the  virtual  embodiment  of  the  truth  which 
they  profess  to  illustrate.  In  contemplating  language  as  the 
vehicle,  and  thought  as  the  material  of  education,  let  us  re 
member  that  while  the  science  of  language  is  practically  in 
separable  from  the  science  of  thought,  it  is  truly  subordinate 
to  it ;  and  let  us  accordingly  be  prepared  to  inculcate,  at  the 


INCIDENTAL   EDUCATION.  93 

very  outset,  the  view  that  thoughts  or  ideas  do  not  lose  their 
rank  as  things  or  objects,  merely  by  being  reduced,  and  as  it 
were  refined,  into  a  concentrated  form  of  experience,  so  that 
they  can  be  carried  in  the  memory  along  with  their  associ 
ated  words.  There  may  be  a  transient  mysticism  in  such 
teaching,  but  even  this  may  be  regarded  as  an  incidental 
advantage  in  a  doctrine  so  fundamentally  important.  Even 
children  cannot  too  early  realize  the  truth  that  knowledge  in 
the  distance  is  necessarily  mystical,  nor  be  too  early  guarded 
against  confounding  mysticism  with  absurdity.  Their  inter 
est  will  be  more  likely  to  be  stimulated  than  checked  by  this 
simple,  straightforward  policy,  not  only  in  the  study  of  lan 
guage,  but  in  ui&t  of  every  other  science  which  can  be  made 
the  subject  of  language.  By  their  unsophisticated  instru 
mentality,  let  us  doubt  not,  even  teachers  may  be  incidentally 
aided  in  developing  the  order  of  wisdom  out  of  our  chaos  of 
knowledge,  so  that  the  world  will  again  be  able  to  accept  and 
careful  to  cherish  the  now  discarded  maxim,  Scientiarum 
janitrix  grammatica,  Grammar  is  the  janitress  of  the 
sciences. 


KNOWLEDGE. 


"Aon  to  knowledge  temperance."— 2  PET.  I  & 

THE  knowledge  which  answers  a  need, 
Is  that  which  wise  learners  will  love: 

Where  our  nature  is  wanting  indeed, 
May  its  increase  be  sought  from  above » 

For  who  of  us  fathoms  his  wants  ? 

Who  sees  through  the  crowd  of  his  carra, 
And,  in  fairest  or  gloomiest  haunts, 

To  meet  each  in  its  order  prepares  ? 

Man's  cravings,  of  hunger  and  thirst. 
For  action,  and  thought,  and  report, 

In  their  freshness  rank  each  as  the  first, 
And  of  each,  by  its  objects,  he  know*. 

Such  knowledge  avails  him  not  long : 
In  physical  concert  it  stands, 

And  ensures  not  the  nutriment  strong 
Which  the  flight  of  the  spirit  demands. 

That  nutriment  still,  as  a  child, 
Truth's  earnest  explorer  shall  find, 

And  with  knowledge  imbibe,  unbeguiled 
By  the  adjuncts  of  matter  or  mind. 

So  reaching  from  every  height  4 

The  knowledge  in  feeling  begun, 

Will  he  soon  in  the  verdict  unite, 
— There  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun.* 

But  gaining  by  staff  and  by  rod 

The  comfort  which  all  things  augment, 

He  will  know  of  the  only  true  GOD, 
And  of  JESUS,  the  CHRIST  He  hath  sentt 

*  ECCLES.  i.  9.  t  JOHN  xvii.  *. 

94 


THE    EXPENDITURE    OF    EXPLANATION. 


"  From  the  fact  that  they  had  Reason  in  abundance,  they  were  somewhat 
chary  of  reasons.  Their  thinking,  indeed,  gives  us  the  solid,  nutritious,  en 
riching  substance  of  Thought,  ....  and  especially  avoids  the  thinness  and 
juicelessness  which  are  apt  to  characterize  the  greatest  efforts  of  the  under 
standing,  when  understanding  is  divorced  from  character." — E.  P.  WHIPPLE, 
on  the  Thinkers  of  the  Age  of  ELIZABETH. 

IN  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  besides  the  gen 
eral  commendations  of  the  spirit  of  unsuspecting  charity 
on  the  part  of  all  men  toward  their  fellow-beings,  we  find 
particular  occasions  or  modes  mentioned  for  its  exercise. 
We  are  distinctly  exhorted  to  give  alms  of  our  material  and 
intellectual  substance  as  well  as  of  our  spiritual  sympathy, 
with  the  view,  doubtless,  of  leading  us  to  realize  in  ourselves 
the  riches  of  the  true  spiritual  charity,  which  cannot  be  main 
tained  and  demonstrated  without  such  outward  communica 
tion.  He  who  shall  petition  us  for  a  reason  of  "  the  hope 
that  is  in  us,"  as  well  as  he  who  shall  come  to  us  for  the  re 
lief  of  his  bodily  necessities,  if  we  can  believe  that  he  is 
making  his  request  with  a  single  view  to  qualifying  himself 
for  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in  the  Divine  sight,  is  to  be 
treated  by  us  as  one  of  "  GOD'S  poor"  whose  claims  upon 
our  attention  are  incontrovertible  and  imperative.  By  the 
neglect  of  such  we  lose  the  opportunity  of  laying  up  "  treasure 
in  Heaven."  This  is  indeed  a  consideration  of  primary  and 
permanent  importance  to  all  who  may  find  themselves  to 
be  in  any  degree  the  stewards  of  any  kind  of  influence  over 
their  fellow-men. 

95 


96          THE  EXPENDITURE   OF  EXPLANATION. 

There  is,  however,  another,  and  an  opposite  danger  which 
besets  all  professors  of  religion,  in  proportion  as  they  may  be 
remiss  in  the  ever  urgent  duty  of  scrutinizing  their  own 
motives  and  rules  of  action.  The  vice  of  officiousness  is  sure 
to  overtake  those  in  whom  slothfulness  of  spirit  has  induced 
a  reliance  upon  the  mere  letter  of  religion.  Both  the  nature 
of  their  own  emotions,  and  the  characteristic  circumstances 
of  those  with  whom  they  have  to  deal,  will  be  sure  to  be  mis 
interpreted  by  such,  and  there  must  be  a  correspondingly 
ignorant  misapplication  and  practical  waste  of  their  labor 
and  means.  The  evils  of  material  thriftlessness  which  may 
be  thus  harbored,  and  even  fostered  to  the  magnitude  of 
oppressive  social  burdens,  are  comparatively  well  known  in 
our  day.  The  danger  of  fostering  a  permanent  system  of 
intellectual  pauperism  seems  to  be  less  generally  deprecated, 
as  being  less  superficial,  and  therefore  at  once  less  obviously 
disgraceful  to  its  victims,  and  more  secretly  seductive  to  those 
who  may  find  in  it  a  source  of  factitious  influence.  Its  mis 
chievous  results  must  doubtless,  however,  be  more  extensive, 
in  proportion  as  its  origin  and  operation  are  more  insidious. 
u  Man  that  is  in  honor,  and  understandeth  not,  is  like  the 
brutes  that  perish." 

The  application  of  the  divine  precept,  "Give  not  that 
which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls 
before  swine,"  must  be  to  some  extent  obvious  to  almost  all. 
The  great  difficulty  here,  as  in  the  observance  of  every  literal 
precept  of  social  duty,  is  that  of  remembering  upon  all  occa 
sions  that  our  own  impressions  of  character  may  be  at  fault, 
even  where  they  appear  to  be  most  distinct.  If,  when  com 
pelled  by  the  conduct  of  our  fellow-beings,  according  to  our 
best  interpretation  of  it,  to  treat  them  as  insensible  beings,  we 
are  careful  to  bear  in  mind  that  our  interpretation  may  never 
theless  be  deficient,  the  harshness  of  our  demeanor  will  not 
be  aggravated  by  the  spirit  of  arrogance.  Whether,  then, 
the  discipline  which  we  have  to  administer  be  that  of  neglect 
or  that  of  attention,  its  outlay  must  evidently,  by  the  avoid 


THE  EXPENDITURE    OF  EXPLANATION.          97 

ance  of  futile  exasperation,  be  economically  adapted  to  any 
remaining  sensibility  of  the  recipient.  The  sources  of  health 
ful  feeling,  which  are  the  sources  of  accuracy  in  thought  as 
well  as  of  harmony  in  action,  will  thus  be  as  effectually 
reached  and  stimulated  as  they  can  be  by  human  agency. 

As  the  work  of  education  in  both  young  and  old  consists 
in  the  development  of  the  power  of  independent  observation 
and  reflection,  so  the  labor  of  explanation  may  be  said  ever  to 
resolve  itself  into  one  of  mere  suggestion.  Dictation,  in  mat 
ters  of  opinion,  ever  implies  officiousness,  or  the  zeal  which 
is  "  not  according  to  knowledge,"  if  it  do  not  proceed  from 
outright  hostility.  As  the  constitution  of  human  society 
approaches  the  ideal  of  perfection,  the  old  and  serviceable 
trinity,  of  duty,  power  and  privilege,  must  still  determine  the 
degrees  of  worldly  rank ;  but  in  the  administration  of  an  en 
lightened  charity,  the  duty,  the  power  and  the  privilege,  must 
be  increasingly  manifested,  as  to  their  merely  social  bearings, 
in  the  mere  labor  of  making  suggestions.  Not  the  less,  how 
ever,  will  the  continual  fruitfulness  of  all  feeling,  thought, 
and  expression,  depend  upon  the  spiritual  vigilance  which 
shows  itself  equally  in  the  anticipation  of  all  genuine  de 
mands  upon  its  resources,  and  in  the  avoidance  of  all  offi 
cious  wastefulness.  "Wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct."* 
"Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children."!  "  In  thy  light  shall 
we  see  light."  J 

*  ECCLES.  x.  10.  t  MATT.  xi.  19.  J  Ps.  xxxvL  g. 

9  G 


CONVERSATION   AND   EDUCATION. 


"LET  the  word  of  CHRIST  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,  teaching 
and  admonishing  one  another." — COL.  iii.  16. 

START  not,  O  gentle  reader !  and  frown  not,  O  strong- 
minded  !    at  any  seeming   incongruity  in   the  terms  of 
our  title.     Even    among    those    to  whom  we    may  seem  to 
be  confounding  beginning  with  ending,  opin- 

ions  may  differ  as  to  which  is  the  beginning 
and  which  the  ending ;  and  is  it  not  always 
worthy  of  commemoration  that  extremes  of  experience,  save 
as  contingent  upon  extravagancies  of  conduct,  are  secretly  and 
harmoniously  correlated  ?  Even  Etymology  indicates  that  the 
most  contrasted  objective  terms  are,  or  express,  but  opposite 
termini  of  practical  truth  ;  and  Cosmography  assures  us  that 
the  North  and  South  Poles  are  but  a  sort  of  Siamese  Twins. 
Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  so  identify  the  world  of  Education 
with  that  of  Conversation,  as  to  give  to  both  of  those  terms  a 
vitality  and  an  interest  which  we  too  often  fail  to  find  in  the 
imperfect  abstractions  or  the  capricious  developments  which 
they  are  made  to  represent. 

(i.)  First,  as  to  motives.     In  both  we  have  at 

hin'  first  to  deal  with  the  comparatively  super 
ficial  love  of  man  and  the  dependent  desire  for  human  appro 
bation,  rather  than  with  the  deeper-seated  love  of  GOD  and 
the  more  independent  aspiration  for  abstract  truth  ;  while  in 
both,  with  the  development  or  manifestation  of  independence 
of  character,  the  labor  of  exhortation  and  dictation  will  be 
replaced  by  that  of  intelligent  demonstration  and  candid  in- 
98 


CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION.  99 

quiry,  as  becomes  the  possessors  of  an  illumination  by  which 
all  distinctions  of  personality  are  thrown  into  the  shade. 
Alike  in  Science  and  in  Religion  personal  authority  must 
give  way  to  that  of  argument  and  of  a  dividual  experience,  as 
the  neophyte  is  graduated  into  the  proficient.  Abstractly, 
this  consideration  may  seem  almost  too  simple  and  obvious 
to  demand  mention  ;  but  in  practice  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  it  is  very  often  lost  sight  of,  owing  to  the  imperfection 
of  prevailing  theories  inducing  imperfection  of  practice.  One 
of  these  imperfections  we  may  now  pause  to  contemplate. 

Thought  is  superior  to  language.  But  it 
becomes  practically  inferior  in  the  experi-  Hidden  errors,  and 
ence  of  any  who  have  not  learned,  or  who  |^thhidden  due  °f 
do  not  bear  in  mind,  that  they  are  indeed 
two  distinct  things.  Speech  being  but  the  means  of  our 
meaning,  the  mere  vehicle  of  the  treasures  of  mind,  should 
never  be  pursued  or  paraded  as  an  end.  When  we  speak, 
we  should  speak  as  those  who  are  trying  to  be  silent ; 
and  not,  even  when  silent,  be  silent  as  those  whose  powers 
are  consumed  by  the  desire  to  speak.  We  have  too  much 
lost  the  meaning  of  the  sacred  proverb,  "A  fool  uttereth 
all  his  mind,  but  a  wise  man  keepeth  it  in  till  after 
ward."  It  is  only  by  a  continual  comparison  of  our  words 
with  our  meaning,  that  we  can  assure  ourselves  that  we  are 
indeed  willing  to  be  still,  and  possessing  our  souls  in  patience, 
while  giving  vent  to  our  feelings  in  speech.  This  consider 
ation  brings  to  our  view  a  more  general  principle,  of  which 
the  distinction  between  thought  and  speech  is  but  a  single 
aspect  or  illustration  ;  namely,  that  primary  condition  of  all 
human  consciousness,  the  distinction  between  subjective  and 
objective  truth.  These  terms  have  heretofore  been  too  ex 
clusively  the  property  of  the  metaphysician.  The  common 
mind  seems  now  preparing  to  assert  its  right  to  their  use, 
and  to  profit  by  the  observation  that  Thought  relatively  to 
Language  is  Subjective,  and  Language  relatively  to  Thought, 
Objective. 


100  CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION. 

The  whole  mystery  of  these  terms  lies  in  their  relativity. 
Thought,  although  subjective  in  its  relation  to  language,  is,  in 
accordance  with  a  more  or  less  prevailing  sentiment  among 
investigators  in  all  ages  until  our  own,  objective  in  its  relation 
to  the  Thinker.  It  is  the  bane  of  modern  Philosophy,  as  rep 
resented  by  the  now  dominant  school  of  REID  and  HAMIL 
TON,  that  it  fails  to  recognize  the  distinct  existence  of  ideas 
as  the  immediate  objects  both  of  reflective  Consciousness  and 
of  direct  Perception.  The  assumed  alternative,  that  external 
things  are  the  immediate  objects  of  Perception,  is  essentially 
absurd  and  suicidal,  since  it  plainly  involves  the  assumption 
that  the  mind,  or  percipient  subject,  is  in  direct  contact  with 
things  as  they  are,  and  the  inevitable  inference  that  we  per 
ceive  more  than  we  either  understand  or  remember,  and  are 
in  fact  unconsciously  omniscient.  There  are  indeed  the  ab 
stract  ideas,  which,  as  the  objects  of  Memory  and  the  mate 
rials  of  Imagination,  are  distinguishable  from  the  concrete  ideas 
of  actual  Perception,  and  which  by  reason  of  their  prior  in 
corporation  with  the  mind  may  be  termed  subjective,  rela 
tively  to  those  which  are  the  immediate  results  of  present 
Perception.  But  this  subjectivity  is  simply  identical  with 
that  of  all  Thought  to  all  Language,  the  materials  of  language 
being,  as  is  now  conclusively  established,  wholly  supplied  by 
those  external  impressions  in  which  all  men  most  unmistaka 
bly  agree,  and  subsequently  subjectively  refined  pari  passu 
(even-paced)  with  the  refinement  of  Thought.  It  extends  no 
farther,  because  a  healthy  Memory  and  Imagination  follow  so 
closely  in  the  wake  of  Vision,  that  there  can  be  no  practical 
discrimination  between  their  objects  for  individual  purposes. 
As  a  rule,  old  ideas  become  continually  in  themselves  more 
objective  and  obsolete,  and  seem  to  retain  their  subjective 
vitality  only  by  the  continued  development  of  mind  resulting 
from  continued  observations  upon  life  and  nature,  and  the  re 
tention  of  old  terms  of  language  in  correspondingly  extended 
significations.  "Whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish 
away."  The  universal  subordination  of  the  Objective  to  the 


CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION.  IO1 

Subjective,  including  that  of  parts  to  wholes,  and  indirectly  at 
least  that  of  individuals  to  communities,  is  the  only  intelligible 
clue  of  approach  toward  the  perfection  in  which  all  u  that 
which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away." 

The  independence  of  Thought  upon  Lan-  The  precedence 
guage  being  thus,  as  it  were,  a  constituent  part  of  thought. 
of  healthy,  human  character,  must  be  cherished  as  a  leading 
motive  in  every  worthy  labor  both  of  language  and  of  thought, 
and  so  become  a  most  important  bond  of  union  and  law  of 
relationship  between  the  great  and  greatly  unknown  provinces 
of  human  Conversation  and  human  Education.  Let  us  now 
turn  more  particularly  to  an  examination  of  the  materials 
which  are  common  to  both. 

Here  again  we  are  met  bv  the  relativity  and  (2.) 

.  "  -  .        „  i       External  aspects. 

seemingly  merely  verbal  nature  or  intellectual 
distinctions,  the  consideration  of  first  and  final  causes  of  ac 
tions  being  inseparable  from  any  earnest  consideration  of 
their  nature  and  value.  We  cannot,  that  is,  pretend  to  draw 
a  fixed  line  here  between  motives  and  materials ;  but  by 
making  due  allowance  for  the  subordination  and  inherent  im 
becility  of  language  as  the  mere  tool  of  thought,  we  shall 
doubtless  be  enabled  to  proceed  both  more  intelligently  and 
more  hopefully  than  they  who  cripple  their  own  minds  by 
secretly  imputing  to  Thought  the  limitations  of  Language. 

For  the  proper  materials  both  of  Conversa 
tion  and  of  Education  we  must  doubtless  look 

Without  Ourselves,  as   for    the    motives    Of  both      pending  on  the  men- 

we  have  had  to  look  within  ourselves.     The     !al  P°sition  of  the 

inquirer. 

progressive  enlargement  of  the  internal  realm 
by  the  progressive  subjection  of  the  external,  inevitably  occa 
sions  a  verbal  and  objective  confusion  of.  those  realms,  where 
self-knowledge  or  wisdom  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  know 
ledge  of  things ;  but  the  subordination  of  the  objective  to  the 
subjective  is  here  also  the  sufficient  law  of  order,  as  well  as 
of  illimitable  progress.  That  knowledge  of  external  things 
which  may  be  already  at  any  time  attained  by  any,  is  definite 
9  * 


102  CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION. 

and  objective  as  compared  with  that  which  is  as  yet  unat- 
tained,  and  therefore  as  yet,  in  its  unknown  relation  to  the 
same  explorer,  purely  mystical  and  subjective.  Objects  of 
aspiration  in  some  being  often  objects  of  attainment  in  others, 
the  utility  both  of  Conversation  and  of  Education  thus  of 
course  lies  largely  in  the  fact  that  our  shortest  road  to  the 
unknown  truths  even  of  external  nature  is  often  through  the 
minds  of  other  people.  Hence  it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  the  study  of  Thought  in  its  objective  aspects  has 
ever  received  that  place  of  primary  importance  in  the  work 
of  Education  and  in  the  display  of  Conversation  which  rightly 
belongs  to  it.  An  objective  Science  of  Mind  is  plainly  one 
of  the  indispensable  materials  of  both,  if  perfection,  or  even 
if  progress,  be  possible  in  either. 

As  regards  the  purely  external  world  the 
distinction  between  subjective  and  objective 
truth  may  be  defined  as  identical  with  that  between  sub 
stance  and  quality.  Here  we  again  discover  the  subtle  and 
shifting  trait  of  relativity, — the  substance,  (quod  stat  sttbter, 
as  COLERIDGE  writes,)  ever  retiring  from  Perception  into  the 
realm  of  Imagination,  behind  the  new  qualities  which  it  suc 
cessively  gives  off  as  it  were  to  the  investigating  mind.  The 
materials  both  of  Conversation  and  of  Education  must  clearly 
be  for  the  most  part,  as  regards  the  external  world,  deriva 
tive  rather  than  immediate,  or  essentially  intellectual  rather 
than  sensational.  The  laws  of  Mind  are  from  first  to  last 
our  chief  guides  and  standards  for  classifying  and  estimating 
the  said  materials.  Those  materials  are  thus  broadly  and 
simply  divisible  into  objects  of  Introspection  and  objects  of 
Perception  ;  the  law  of  relativity,  as  already  intimated,  being 
our  safeguard  from  confusion,  by  allotting  to  the  definite  and 
demonstrable  educts  of  thought  which  most  largely  influence 
practice,  the  rank  of  objective  perceptions,  while  reserving 
that  of  subjective  imaginations  for  the  more  vague  but  hope 
ful  impressions  which  govern  theory.  Who  can  fail  to  see  in 
these  contrasting  and  yet  co-operating  elements  of  Mind, — 


CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION.  103 

the  one  deriving  its  inspiration  from  within  and  the  other 
from  without — a  true  sexual  relationship,  for  which  it  may 
be  the  highest  temporal  significance  of  sex  corporeal  to  serve 
as  a  symbol?  It  is  certain  that  the  law  of  mental  increase  is 
often  strangely  overlooked  in  the  contemplation  of  its  results. 
Said  Dr.  JOHNSON  in  his  appreciating  biography  of  the  accom 
plished  and  indefatigable  JOHN  DRYDEN,  "A  writer  who  has 
attained  his  full  purpose  loses  himself  in  his  own  lustre. 
Of  an  opinion  which  is  no  longer  doubted,  the  evidence 
ceases  to  be  examined.  Of  an  art  universally  practiced,  the 
first  teacher  is  forgotten.  Learning  once  made  popular  is  no 
longer  learning ;  it  has  the  appearance  of  something  which 
we  have  bestowed  upon  ourselves,  as  the  dew  appears  to 
rise  from  the  field  which  it  refreshes.  To  judge  rightly  of 
an  author  we  must  transport  ourselves  to  his  time,  and  ex 
amine  what  were  the  wants  of  his  contemporaries  and  what 
were  his  means  of  supplying  them.  That  which  is  easy  at 
one  time  was  difficult  at  another."*  The  light  of  inspiration 
becomes  inappreciable  alike  behind  us  and  before  us,  where 
attainment  is  not  constantly  combined  with  and  subordinated 
to  aspiration. 

The  duality  of  mind  at  the  contemplation 
of  which  we  thus  arrive,  is  perhaps  suffi- 
ciently  represented  for  most  occasions  by  the 
distinction  between  abstract  and  concrete  ideas  ;  the  abstract 
being  ever  the  leaders  in  the  common  progress,  and  leaving 
to  the  concrete  the  function  of  expression.  The  first  Rule  of 
Arithmetic,  for  instance,  is  Addition,  (not  Numeration,  which, 
as  its  etymology  indicates,  is  more  justly  to  be  regarded  as  a 
synonym  for  the  whole  science)  which  deals  wholly  in  con 
crete  numbers.  When,  in  the  labor  of  adding  or  numerating, 
we  reach  the  number  Ten,  we  cannot  proceed  farther,  accord 
ing  to  the  received  system  of  notation,  without  introducing  the 
Rule  of  Multiplication,  in  which,  as  is  well  understood,  an 

*  Similar  remarks  may  be  found  in  Dr.  WHEWELL'S  Nmjum  Organon  Re 
navatum,  Bk.  2,  ch.  5,  §  4  ;  ch.  6,  §  3  ;  Bk.  3,  ch.  4,  §  4. 


104  CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION. 

abstract  number  is  always  necessary  as  "  Multiplier." 
Everywhere  the  subjective  faculty  of  Introspection  or  Imag 
ination  must  reinforce  the  objective  faculty  of  Perception  or 
outward  Observation,  or  Science  must  stagnate,  Conversation 
become  purposeless  and  vapid,  and  Education  futile. 

incentives  to  as-         Although  the  pursuit  of  objects  or  economy 
piration.  of  materials  will  doubtless  ever  be  the  more 

successful  when  subordinated  to  the  culture  of  motives,  by  as 
much  as  the  known  appearance  falls  short  of  the  unknown 
reality,  yet  the  contemplation  of  prospective  privileges  and  dis 
tant  glories  is  an  important  aid  to  aspiration,  especially  when 
our  imperfect  vision  may  be  assisted  by  the  descriptions  and 
suggestions  of  more  experienced  and  far-sighted  explorers  of 
truth.  To  a  want  of  faith  in  our  divinely  bestowed, — or  at 
least,  reverently  and  thankfully  be  it  spoken,  to  our  divinely 
purchased  and  practically  possible, — capacity,  ever  increas 
ingly  to  comprehend  the  secrets  of  the  universe  without  us 
and  within  us,  we  may  attribute  that  general  superficiality  of 
the  social  instinct  which  constrains  mankind  to  court  misery 
in  crowds,  while  the  riches  of  nature  rot  in  her  ample  and 
luxuriant  wildernesses.  Ignorance  makes  us  miserable,  and 
misery,  while  loving  company,  naturally  measures  that  chief 
blessing  rather  by  the  quantity  than  by  the  quality,  seeking  to 
satisfy  in  the  attainable  extent  and  diversity,  its  cravings  for 
the  too  unattainable  intensity  and  geniality.  Hence,  as  has 
been  well  observed,  while  older  countries  are  "groaning 
under  the  necessity  of  contributing  to  the  support  of  an  ex 
cessive  population,"  the  progress  of  settlement  and  civilization 
"  amidst  virgin  lands,  forests  and  waters,  is  of  an  almost  geo 
logical  slowness."*  Let  us  not  conclude  the  consideration 
of  our  world-embracing  theme  without  adverting  to  the  anti 
cipations  of  that  eminent  patriarch  of  Science,  Sir  JOHN 
HERSCHEL,  of  the  results  we  may  hope  to  realize  when  the 
individual  discipline  of  mind  and  the  general  freedom  of  com- 

*"  Primeval  Forests  of  the  Amazons,"  N.  Monthly  Mag.  vol.   128;  LIT- 
TELL'S  Living  Age,  vol.  78. 


CONVERSATION  AND  EDUCATION.  105 

munion  shall  make  Conversation  truly  profitable  and  Educa 
tion  truly  familiar. 

"  There  is  something  in  the  contemplation  of  general  laws 
which  powerfully  persuades  us  to  merge  individual  feeling, 
and  to  commit  ourselves  unreservedly  to  their  disposal ;  while 
the  observation  of  the  calm,  energetic  regularity  of  nature, 
the  immense  scale  of  her  operations,  and  the  certainty  with 
which  her  ends  are  attained"  (i.  e.,  the  perception  of  estab 
lished  order,  as  the  wary  writer  might  perhaps  have  expressed 
himself  had  he  not  written  before  the  dangers  of  Pantheism 
were  so  distinctly  manifested  as  now)  "  tends  irresistibly  to 
tranquilize  and  reassure  the  mind  and  render  it  less  suscepti 
ble  to  repining,  selfish  and  turbulent  emotions.  And  this  it 
does,  not  by  debasing  our  nature  into  weak  compliances  and 
abject  submission  to  circumstances,  but  by  filling  us,  as  from 
an  inward  spring,  with  a  sense  of  nobleness  and  power  which 
enables  us  to  rise  superior  to  them  by  showing  us  our  strength 
and  innate"  (potential)'"  dignity,  and  by  calling  upon  us  for 
the  exercise  of  those  powers  and  faculties  by  which  we  are 
susceptible  of  the  comprehension  of  so  much  greatness,  and 
which  form,  as  it  were,  a  link  between  ourselves  and  the  best 
and  noblest  benefactors  of  our  species,  with  whom  we  hold 
communion  in  thoughts,  and  participate  in  discoveries  which 
have  raised  them  above  the  level  of  their  fellow-mortals,  and 
brought  them  nearer  to  their  Creator." — Discourse  on  the 
Study  of  Natural  Philosophy,  1831. 

"  That  Astronomers  should  congregate  to  talk  of  stars  and 
planets  ;  Chemists,  of  atoms  ;  Geologists,  of  strata,  is  natural 
enough.  But  what  is  there  of  equal  mutual  interest,  equally 
connected  with  and  equally  pervading  all  they  are  engaged 
upon,  which  causes  their  hearts  to  burn  within  them  for  mu 
tual  communication  and  unbosoming?  Surely,  were  each  of 
us  to  give  utterance  to  all  he  feels,  we  would  hear  the  Chem 
ist,  the  Astronomer,  the  Physiologist,  the  Electrician,  the  Bot 
anist,  the  Geologist,  all  with  one  accord,  and  each  in  the  lan 
guage  of  his  own  science,  declaring  not  only  the  wonderful 


106  CONVERSATION  AND   EDUCATION. 

works  of  GOD  disclosed  by  it,  but  the  delight  which  their  dis 
closure  affords  him,  and  the  privilege  he  feels  it  to  be  to  have 
aided  in  it.  This  is  indeed  a  magnificent  induction,  a  consil 
ience*  there  is  no  refuting.  It  leads  us  to  look  onward 
through  the  long  vista  of  time,  with  chastened  but  confident 
assurance  that  Science  has  still  other  and  nobler  work  to  do 
than  any  she  has  yet  attempted  ;  work  which,  before  she  is 
prepared  to  attempt,  the  minds  of  men  must  be  prepared  to 
receive  the  attempt — prepared,  I  mean,  by  an  entire  convic 
tion  of  the  wisdom  of  her  views,  the  purity  of  her  objects,  and 
the  faithfulness  of  her  disciples." — Address  to  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  1845. 

Equally  hopeful  are  the  utterances  of  less  famous  voices  of 
our  Western  world.  Onej  of  these  may  perhaps  here  suffice. 

"  The  highest  Science  must  eventually  exhibit  a  unity 
which  shall  correspond  with  that  of  Reality.  Indications  are 
not  entirely  wanting  of  an  approaching  re-union  between  the 
two  great  branches  of  Investigation — those  which  concern 
respectively  the  Material  and  the  Spiritual  domains  of  nature. 
Our  present  arbitrary  division  necessitates  a  one-sided  devel 
opment  of  the  scientific  faculties  of  the  mind.  Physical  and 
Metaphysical  study  being  each  vitally  connected  with  the 
whole  of  Science,  it  is  only  by  the  simultaneous  pursuit  of 

both,  that  the  inquirer  can  fit  himself  for  either 

The  recognition  which  is  to  come  of  the  omnipotence  of  Love 
and  Thought  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  undeveloped  capa 
bilities  of  the  lowest  human  being  on  the  other,  will  be  ac 
companied  I  think,  whether  as  cause  or  as  effect,  by  a  new 

*  "  The  Consilience  of  Inductions  takes  place  when  an  induction  obtained 
from  one  class  of  facts  coincides  with  an  induction  obtained  from  another 
different  class.  .  .  .  The  Consilience  of  our  inductions  gives  rise  to  a  con 
stant  convergence  of  our  Theory  towards  Simplicity  and  Unity.  .  .  . 
That  rules  springing  from  remote  and  unconnected  quarters  should  leap 
to  the  same  point,  can  only  arise  from  that  being  the  point  where  truth  re 
sides." — WHEWELL,  Nov.  Org.  Ren.,  B.  2,  ch.  5. 

t  The  author's  much  lamented  friend  and  kinsman,  the  late  PHILIP  PHY- 
SICK  RANDOLPH.— 1869. 


CONVERSATION  AND   EDUCATION.  107 

era  of  Science,  Philosophy,  Philanthropy  and  Religion.  In 
their  present  condition,  Science  denies  the  existence  of  a  spir 
itual  world  ;  Philosophy  merely  affirms  the  existence  of  that 
world  ;  Philanthropy  is  without  a  scientific  basis  for  her  effort, 
and  Faith  is  blind  to  her  own  power.  In  the  future  which 
we  anticipate,  the  Man  of  Science  will  recognize  the  conti 
nent  of  permanent  Fact  and  invariable  Law  which  is  the  fair 
est  portion  of  his  domain  ;  the  Philosopher  will  pass  beyond 
the  mere  recognition  of  that  region,  and  carry  into  its  explo 
ration  the  patience  and  humility  which  his  compeer  has  dis 
played  in  a  lower  field  ;  the  Philanthropist  will  commence 
his  labor  for  Man  in  the  study  of  the  Science  of  Man  ;  and 
the  Believer  will  gather  the  full  import  of  the  good  tidings 
which  are  his  all  in  all." 

Courteous  and  patient  reader !  let  the  depth  Deprecatory  and 
of  this  borrowed  introspection,  and  the  large-  hortatory. 
ness  of  this  borrowed  aspiration,  account  for  the  discursive 
and  partial  manner  in  which  only  we  have  been  able  to  deal 
with  so  large  a  subject,  and  avail  to  palliate  any  occasional 
irregularity  in  the  flow  of  expression  where  the  continuity  of 
meaning  may  upon  examination  be  found  unbroken.  Let  us 
be  content  with  bearing  all  timely  witness,  and  lending  all 
possible  aid,  to  the  progressive  transmutation  of  our  human 
and  too  discordant  Polytechny  into  a  divine  and  perfectly  har 
monious  Monotechny  ;  and  let  us  part  in  the  faith  that  all  the 
truths  of  Science,  Conversation  and  Education  are  among  the 
"all  things"  of  which  the  zealous  but  practical  Apostle 
writes  as  "  pertaining  to  life  and  godliness,"  and  so  qualify 
all  that  has  been  here  said  either  at  first  or  at  second  hand 
respecting  them,  by  the  confession  that  if  indeed  ours,  they 
can  only  be  so,  as  the  same  inspired  penman  further  writes, 
(when  rightly  read)  "of  his  Divine  power  which  is  given  unto 
us  through  the  knowledge  of  Him  that  hath  called  us  by  glory 
and  virtue." — 2  PET.  i,  3. 

1868. 


AN  ASPIRATION. 


"  Let  us  go  on  to  perfection." — HEB.  vi.  i. 

GOAL  of  devotion,  and  Spring  of  affection  ! 

Quiet  our  terror,  and  quicken  our  hope  :— 
Rise  like  a  sun  for  our  light  and  direction : — 

Banish  the  darkness  wherein  we  yet  grope  ! 

Palpable  darkness  still  hovers  around  us, 

Braving  the  brightness  of  thy  blessed  strength ; 

Come  in  thy  fullness  before  it  confound  us, 
Shine  on  our  effort,  and  save  us,  at  length ! 

Voices  behind  us,  and  pitfalls  before  us, 

Hide  in  the  clouds  which  dispute  thy  design. 

Break  their  besetments,  and  richly  restore  us, 
Ere  their  contagion  our  faith  undermine. 

Where  is  our  standard  if  Thou  shalt  forsake  us? 

How  shall  we  rally  without  a  device  ? 
What  can  devices  of  men  but  unmake  us, 

Ordered  themselves  as  by  falling  of  dice  ? 

Chance-born,  if  ever  chance  lives  in  thy  system, 
Diverse  and  fleeting  as  hues  of  the  morn, 

How  can  they  lure  their  observers  to  wisdom, 
Past  the  brief  twilight  they  rose  to  adorn  ? 

Not  as  strange  gods  shall  thy  sons  climb  to  glory, 
Parted  in  empire,  or  hostile  in  aim : 

One  in  their  nature,  and  one  in  their  story, 
One  Love  shall  bind  them,  an  infinite  same. 

Rise  for  the  seed  of  thy  holy  election  ! 

Scatter  the  desperate  spirits  of  ill ! 
GOD  of  the  just !  for  thy  name  is  Perfection, 

Gather  thine  ownjo,  Depose  in  thy  will ! 
108 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 
This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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